Operations cancelled due to bed shortages (FOI)

​Request

How many operations at Jersey General Hospital have been cancelled due to bed shortages since 2015.

Could you list how long it took for each operation to be rearranged and carried out.

Response

Data regarding the number of operations cancelled due to bed pressures was not routinely recorded by the Health and Social Services Department until 2018. As such, all data relating to pre-2018 bed pressure cancellations is exempt under Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 as the information is not held.

However, data for 2018 is presented below:

Operations are prioritised in three ways within Health and Social Services:

• Routine

• Soon

• Urgent

Soon and urgent operations are prioritised when bed pressures are experienced, and the cancellation of routine operations are undertaken only where necessary.

Article applied

Article 3 Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.