Waiting lists hit target early
5:05pm Thursday 15th May 2008
HOSPITAL waiting times in Devon have been cut to meet the national target of 18 weeks - nine months ahead of schedule.
Devon Primary Care Trust has been working closely with its GPs and the hospital acute trusts to cut the time patients wait for diagnosis and treatment.
By March of this year Devon PCT had already surpassed the national target of 85%, with more than 90% of patients having been seen and treated within 18 weeks.
Where patients didn't require an admission to hospital this figure was over 95%. Both these achievements are well in advance of the December 2008 deadline.
Rebecca Harriott, Deputy Chief Executive of Devon PCT, said that the PCT was delighted by the improvement in patient experience that delivering this target early means.
"Removing delays in treatment is one of the top priorities that patients consistently report to us," she said.
" We have made excellent progress but have more work to do. Firstly in reducing the wait from referral to treatment still further, and by reducing waiting times for services not covered by this target.
"We have agreed a maximum waiting time of 15 weeks from referral to treatment this year.
"We are also discussing ways to further reduce this, and importantly to ensure that it is delivered across all specialties, including for example, orthopaedics where we know that some patients still experience long waits."