Orthognathic and corrective jaw surgeries since 2025 (FOI)

Request 679926238

Please could you provide the following information from Jersey General Hospital and the dental department:

A

How many patients have been referred to the hospital dental department for treatment involving orthognathic / corrective jaw surgery each year over the past 5 years?

B

How many orthognathic / corrective jaw surgeries have been performed at Jersey Hospital each year over the past 5 years?

C

How many orthognathic / corrective jaw surgeries have been performed on Jersey public patients off island each year over the past 5 years?

D

What were the average and maximum waiting times for orthognathic / corrective jaw surgery each year over the past 5 years?

E

How many patients referred to the dental department for treatment involving orthognathic / corrective jaw surgery have been discharged without completing treatment each year over the past 5 years?

F

How many complaints have been made against the dental department related to treatment involving orthognathic / corrective jaw surgery each year over the past 5 years?

Response

A

The department does not accept external referrals for orthognathic surgery. Only patients seen through the Jersey General Hospital public Orthodontics pathway are considered for orthognathic surgery via multi-disciplinary team (MDT) discussion with contracted tertiary centre surgeons.

B

13 orthognathic / corrective jaw surgeries have been performed at Jersey General Hospital in the past five years. Due to small numbers, an annual breakdown is not provided, as individuals may be identifiable. Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied to protect the privacy of individuals.

C

No referrals were made for off-island orthognathic / corrective jaw surgery between 2020 and 2023. Fewer than five people were referred off-island for orthognathic / corrective jaw surgeries in 2024. As numbers are small, disclosure control is applied to protect individuals from identification, and Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied to protect the privacy of individuals.

D

Individual wait times for surgery can vary considerably, dependant on the timescales involved in completion of pre-surgical orthodontic treatment. The approximate waiting time for off-island surgery once orthodontic treatment has been completed and the patient is accepted by the operating surgeon is three to four months.

E

Not applicable. As noted in response to Question A, the department does not accept referrals in for orthognathic surgery.

F

There is no category or subcategory available to specifically capture complaints related to orthognathic or corrective jaw surgery within the system used by Health and Care Jersey for logging and managing complaints.

The total number of complaints recorded for Dental and Maxillofacial each year, from 2020 to 2024, is provided in the attached table:

Dental and Maxillofacial complaints 2020 to 2024.pdf

​Article applied

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.​