However, Health say that the ‘significantly higher’ referral time compared to the August average of 26 weeks was due to the treatment of patients who had already being seen by the department.
The Health Department aims to see patients within 90 days of a referral.
Earlier this year, Health Minister Richard Renouf said that waiting times at the Hospital would be published each month. The figures are updated on the first working day of each month, one month in arrears, and the latest data relates to Hospital waiting times in September.
In response to the orthodontist department’s waiting times, Health said: ‘In the orthodontic service the average wait for patients who attended a new orthodontic appointment in September was 97 weeks, which is significantly higher than the August average wait (26 weeks).
‘This is due to a larger number of long-waiting patients having been seen in September. This was achieved by the use of a visiting consultant who has worked in the service previously. Eighteen additional clinics were scheduled for September, November and December. As a consequence there were 77 new appointments seen in September, compared to an annual monthly average of 27.
‘This extra activity has reduced the number of long-waiting patients in orthodontics (over 90 days) by 17% and the overall orthodontic waiting list by 12%.’
