Waiting list for cataract operations (FOI)

​​​​Request

Please advise the waiting list time for public eye cataract operations and also confirm that this waiting list is being operated on a strictly first come first served basis?

Response

As detailed in previous Freedom of Information responses and on www.gov.je, waiting times depend on the urgency determined through triage, the process by which cases are sorted and prioritised by urgency. Surgical waiting lists are triaged, prioritised and scheduled according to clinical need and chronological order. Patients who are assessed as requiring ‘Urgent’ surgery are prioritised ahead of those assessed as ‘Routine’ and listed for their procedure accordingly. Patients of the same clinical priority are added to the waiting list in chronological order.

Information on referrals and triage is available on www.gov.je at the following link:

Hospital waiting lists (gov.je)​

Median (average) waiting times for those listed for public cataract operations (identified by procedures listed for extraction of lens and / or lens prosthesis procedures) are detailed below, split by clinical priority. Figures are correct as of 12 June 2024.

• Urgent: 3 weeks
  
• Routine: 15 weeks
  

The median wait is calculated by arranging each patient's waiting time in order, and then selecting the waiting time of the person at the mid-point of that order. Half of all patients on the list have been waiting less than the median wait time and half have been waiting longer than this. Health and Community Services (HCS) reports median waiting times as these are less impacted by outlier values when there are a small number of cases.​