Elective admission/Waiting list
Waiting list statistics for indicator procedures give a specific indication of performance in particular areas of elective care provision. It is not always possible to code all elective surgery procedures at the time of addition to the waiting list. Reasons for this include that the surgeon may be uncertain of the exact procedure to be performed, and that the large number of procedures possible and lack of consistent nomenclature would make coding errors likely. Furthermore, the increase in workload for clerical staff may not be acceptable. However, a relatively small number of procedures account for the bulk of the elective surgery workload. Therefore, a list of common procedures with a tendency to long waiting times is useful. Waiting time statistics by procedure are useful to patients and referring doctors. In addition, waiting time data by procedure assists in planning and resource allocation, audit and performance monitoring.