Waiting lists. Bone of contention

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic surgery
• Healthcare management

Background:

• Orthopaedic waiting lists represent a significant healthcare challenge.
• Despite a 78% increase in orthopaedic consultants since 1984, average waiting times have shown minimal change.
• Workloads in orthopaedics have decreased by approximately 20% over the last five years.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the trends in orthopaedic consultant numbers, patient workloads, and waiting times.
• To identify the challenges and potential solutions for reducing long waiting lists in orthopaedics.
• To project the future needs for patient admissions to eliminate extended waiting periods.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of historical data on orthopaedic consultant numbers.
• Evaluation of changes in orthopaedic patient workloads.
• Assessment of current waiting list durations and patient admission rates.

Main Results:

• A 78% rise in orthopaedic consultants has not correlated with reduced waiting times.
• Orthopaedic workloads have decreased by approximately 20% in the past five years.
• An estimated 85,000 additional orthopaedic patient admissions are needed in the next five years to clear the backlog.

Conclusions:

• The current increase in orthopaedic consultants has not effectively reduced patient waiting times.
• Consultant opposition exists regarding the expansion of staff grades.
• Establishing specialist centres may be a necessary strategy to manage the orthopaedic patient backlog.