Question reference: S6W-18516
- Date lodged: 1 June 2023
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Current status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 14 June 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people are currently on the waiting list for a cataract operation within NHS Shetland.
Answer
Public Health Scotland (PHS) uses the national waiting times warehouse to collect electronic patient records. This data source can be used routinely to identify the specialty of treatment. However, although the records are designed to collect coded information on the procedure that is planned for the patient, this information is often either incomplete, lacking in essential detail and/or its accuracy cannot be assured. In addition, for patients who have completed their wait the procedure(s) that was planned may not always reflect that performed after they were admitted for treatment. The latter is not captured through the warehouse, and as such we would be unable to report accurately on ongoing waits to this level of detail.
Public Health Scotland publishes quarterly statistics relating to the number of ongoing waits, by specialty and health Board of treatment. The latest statistics for Ophthalmology in NHS Shetland are published up to 31 st March 2023, and for new outpatients, this information can be found under Table 1.1 using the link below:
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/media/19970/newop_may23.xlsx .