Plastic surgery waiting list--the numbers game fact or fiction?

Previous studies have indicated the importance of work load and operating time in helping to manage a waiting list. While analysis of a waiting list based solely on numbers cannot give an accurate assessment it is only this and "the waiting time" to surgery (apparently irrespective of clinical priorities) that seem to matter to the government, the Trust Hospitals, and to the public. This study examines case numbers on a waiting list over a two year period and links this to the preceding six months elective operations. Further insight into a waiting list construction can be obtained because of the clinical need for some degree of prioritisation, particularly because of malignancies, it is obvious why the bare waiting list numbers and composition can give a false impression of the true situation. The secondary effect on waiting time for less urgent cases can thus be more readily explained. Some form of rationing may be the answer.