Health outsources braces as part of £5m bid to drive down waiting lists

Wednesday 07 August 2024

Orthodontics is the latest treatment being outsourced to private practices by the Health Department as part of a £5 million push to reduce waiting times, it has emerged.

A total of 100 patients are currently in the process of being outsourced to two private dental practices for “full orthodontic treatment”, with eight of these already being fitted with fixed braces.

A report presented at the latest meeting of the Health and Community Services Advisory Board – made up of specialists tasked with driving improvements in the department’s culture, processes and finances – offered an update on the 'Waiting List Initiative'.

The report stated that to support the "continued reduction of patients waiting times in key service areas", the "successful" introduction of an additional three outsourced initiatives in the last quarter had positively impacted on patient experience.

One of these "outsourced initiatives" saw patients getting their braces from one of two practices on the island – Leodis Dental Practice on Route Des Quennevais, or Confidence Dental Practice in St Helier – with the bill footed by taxpayers.

Health said the two dental providers were chosen "following a tender process".

However, press officers refused to reveal the total cost of the orthodontic outsourcing, saying that it was "commercially sensitive".

But the funds come from a £5 million pot for the 'Waiting List Initiative' approved in last year's Government Plan – and orthodontics is only one of three treatments currently being outsourced.

Pictured: Health waiting lists have been a constant challenge for the new Board.

Express reported in March about the start of a £989,980 scheme which will see 500 local ophthalmology patients referred to the UK for cataract treatment in a bid to drive down waiting lists

There were 1,191 patients on the ophthalmology waiting list at the time and, of these, 375 had waited between six months and one year, and 243 had already waited over a year for a first appointment.

As part of the external scheme, 10 patients per week were due to travel to the UK for their surgery.

The latest update showed that, to date, 166 patients have been booked to receive their cataract treatment in Southampton since Easter 2024 – of these, 117 have already received their treatment.

This initiative is set to continue to the end of the year, the Board said, with around 300 patients planned to be treated under this arrangement.

"Feedback has been very positive," it added.

Other treatments being outsourced include 'the Cardiac ECHO initiative' which commenced in May 2024.

So far, 448 patients have received their diagnostic test out of the 1,100 patients who will be booked through this initiative, which is due to finish in September.

However, according to the States of Jersey's latest Annual Report and Accounts, Health was still not hitting its waiting list targets at the end of 2023.

Areas with challenges were ophthalmology, clinical genetics, trauma, and orthopaedics and dermatology, and plans are in place for each of these services – but the target of less than a quarter of patients waiting more than 90 days for their First Outpatient Appointment had not been met, and the end of 2023 position was 48.2%.