Coronary bypass grafting in South Thames: the correlation between clinical scores and waiting times

To determine waiting times before surgery and their correlation with clinical need, we examined the files of 1049 patients on the waiting list for coronary bypass grafting in 1996. The total waiting time to bypass grafting was 279 (SD 209) days (range 1-1579 days). Waiting time to specialist consultation was 36 (SD 43) days, and time on the waiting list for coronary angiography was 85 (SD 89) days. The mean time on the surgical waiting list was 133 (SD 134) days. Patients with a Birmingham clinical score below 10 waited between 27 and 879 days, and patients with scores above 35 waited between 3 and 282 days. Total waiting time was weakly associated with the priority score (Pearson correlation = -0.51). We conclude that waiting times were long with wide variation at every stage between referral and coronary bypass grafting. There was little correlation between clinical scores and waiting times.