An update on phase two of Manx Care’s ‘Restoration and Recovery’ (R&R) programme to reduce waiting times for some hospital procedures, will be laid before May Tynwald by the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).
It outlines the amount spent, number of surgeries delivered and current waiting times as part of the programme.
Manx Care’s R&R programme aims to reduce waiting lists for some procedures by partnering with a UK provider to work alongside the clinical teams based at Noble’s Hospital to supplement the existing capacity of surgeries that can be delivered.
Phase two focused on reducing waiting lists for orthopaedic, ophthalmology and general surgery. Manx Care received £18.3m to support this activity, and has partnered with UK firm Synaptik to provide both treatments and consultations.
Between August 2022 and March 2023 over 1,400 surgeries were delivered, with a further 450 surgeries expected to be delivered in April.
The update outlines the success of phase two which, in addition to the number of surgeries delivered, has resulted in a 12 week overall reduction in average waiting times (26% reduction) for orthopaedic, ophthalmology and general surgery.
Currently phase two will run until September 2023 for Ophthalmology, October 2023 for Orthopaedics and until March 2024 for General Surgery. Over 38% of the programme has had been delivered by the end of March 2023, with over 50% expected to have been delivered by the end of April 2023.
The reduction in waiting times may fluctuate in the coming months, as the R&R programme begins to focus on the treatment of more complex patients and those who are unable to accept surgeries on the shorter timetables. Manx Care will continue to work with patients to ensure they are seen as early as possible to maximise the number of patients benefiting from this programme of work.
The update figures are available to view on the Tynwald Register of Business.
