HOW LONG IS YOUR WAITING LIST - EXPERIENCE OF A UROLOGICAL WAITING LIST INITIATIVE

Experience with a urological waiting list initiative is presented, whe rein a list of 231 non-urgent cases was cleared over a 5 month period by a single operator. Some patients had waited 10 years for surgery. F ollowing a postal request, the waiting list was validated; 31.2% of pa tients wished to be removed. The remaining 68.8% desired surgery and c onsisted of 51 requiring minor surgical procedures and 108 who needed more major surgery mostly for the relief of bladder outflow obstructio n. Minor cases received dates for surgery; however, only 68.2% of this group attended despite being given more than one date for admission. Major cases were reviewed in a pre-admission clinic. General and urolo gical condition was assessed, improved where necessary and surgery boo ked or delayed accordingly. A small number of patients did not attende r only attended to be reassured that surgery was not needed. Following clinical review, 18.5% of this group did not require operation. The l ong urological waiting list is a unique situation where patients liste d may no longer require surgery. Reviewing these patients not only red uces numbers but also markedly increases percentage attendance for sur gery.