Ophthalmology and Eye Clinic waiting lists (FOI)

Request

I would like to know following an optician's or doctor's referral to the Ophthalmology and Eye Clinic:

A

In weeks how long is the current waiting list for the appointment?

B

In weeks following a referral how long is the current wait before an appointment letter is sent?

C

Upon receiving a referral from an optician or doctor are the appointments issued on a prioritised based or first come first served basis? If so what is the priority based on?

What is the process if an appointment is cancelled by the Ophthalmology/Eye Clinic?

Response

A

Current waiting times for Outpatient appointments can be found on www.gov.je at the following link:

Outpatient waiting lists (gov.je)

Waiting lists can be filtered by specialty, and the median wait time for a first (new) appointment is shown for Urgent, Soon and Routine prioritised appointments.

As this information is accessible by other means, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

B

The wait between a referral being made to receiving an appointment will depend on the urgency determined through triage, the process by which referrals are sorted and prioritised by urgency. Referrals requiring an ‘Urgent’ or ‘Soon’ appointment will be scheduled in-line with their identified urgency following triage, and a letter sent detailing the appointment. ‘Routine’ referrals are added to the pending list for Outpatient appointments and a letter explaining this is sent within four weeks of the triage decision.

C

Information on referrals and triage, including the prioritisation of appointments, is available on www.gov.je in the following link:

Hospital waiting lists (gov.je)

As this information is accessible by other means, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

D

When an appointment is cancelled by Health and Community Services patients receive either a telephone call or letter detailing the cancellation. Patients are also advised of any re-scheduled date for their appointment by either telephone call or letter.

Article applied

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.