PLASTIC-SURGERY WAITING LIST - THE NUMBERS GAME FACT OR FICTION

previous studies have indicated the importance of work load and operat ing time in helping to manage a waiting list. While analysis of a wait ing list based solely on numbers cannot give an accurate assessment it is only this and ''the waiting time'' to surgery (apparently irrespec tive of clinical priorities) that seem to matter to the government, th e 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 preced ing six months elective operations. Further insight into a waiting lis t construction can be obtained because of the clinical need for some d egree of prioritisation, particularly because of malignancies, it is o bvious why the bare waiting list numbers and composition can give a fa lse impression of the true situation. The secondary effect on waiting time for. less urgent cases can thus be more readily explained. Some f orm of rationing may be the answer.