Skip to main content

Surgery, appointments and waiting lists

We are working hard to ensure that those waiting for planned appointments and treatment are seen in order of clinical priority, as quickly and as safely as possible.

However, despite an easing of restrictions, COVID-19 is still impacting on our service delivery. We are continually striving to strike an appropriate balance between providing much needed and often long-delayed treatment for patients, while reducing the risk of infection and further negative impact on our services.

Outpatient activity has been restored to pre-pandemic levels and we have put a number of measures in place to ensure our longest-waiting and most clinically urgent patients are seen as quickly as possible.

What we are doing

  • We have restarted seeing patients triaged as routine by our clinicians as we work to return to pre-COVID activity levels
  • We have sourced additional capacity by working with other external providers for services such as Orthopaedics, Dermatology and Ophthalmology, and we are looking to expand on this. Many patients who meet the clinical criteria have already benefitted from these arrangements
  • In some specialities, including diagnostics, we have sub-contracted certain procedures on our existing NHS premises to deliver extra clinical capacity. This has helped us better meet demand for diagnostic tests, particularly endoscopic investigations
  • Clinics are using a mix of face-to-face, telephone and video appointments where possible and clinically appropriate, in order to meet demand
  • We are also reviewing our theatre service to ensure we maximise capacity and make the best use of our resources. This will lead to an increase in the number of procedures we undertake within a day case setting

We apologise for the time patients have waited and we are doing everything we can to provide treatment as quickly and as safely as possible. We are asking patients not to get in touch with us, as they will be contacted directly about their appointment or surgery by the service.

It will take a significant amount of time to get our waiting lists down to pre-COVID levels and unfortunately, many patients will continue to face long waits for treatment.

We have a section here on frequently asked questions in relation to restarting our services across North Wales. 

Contacting patients on waiting lists

We are working in partnership with an external company, HBSUK, to contact patients who are on our waiting lists. This will mean that if you have been waiting for an outpatient appointment or procedure with one of our clinical teams, you may be called by HBSUK to ask if you wish to remain on our waiting list. By updating our outpatient waiting lists, and removing patients who no longer wish to be seen, we will reduce the waiting time for those patients who wish to remain.

If you decide that you would like to remain on the waiting list you do not need to get in touch, our systems will be updated with your decision and you will be prioritised in order of clinical urgency and length of wait.

This will only apply to you if you have been referred on a routine or urgent referral. Please be assured that if you have been referred on a Cancer or Suspected Cancer basis our usual process will apply and you will be prioritised accordingly.

Insourcing

To help reduce waiting times for outpatient appointments we are working with private providers SHS Partners to reduce our waiting lists.

Patients who have been waiting up to three years for their first outpatient appointment within Orthopaedics and General Surgery are being offered an appointment in order of clinical priority and your time waiting. 

Clinics are carried out across our three acute hospitals and provided by the SHS partner group who are all NHS health professionals.

We are currently changing our telephone system within our Health Board and patients will be contacted by a member of the booking team via a 03000 number.

Services

Find information on hospital services in North Wales. 

Contact us

If you need any support or advice, contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).