Neurosurgeon says clinic needs up to 300 operations a year

A private clinic would need to perform 250 to 300 operations a year to prevent its waiting list from growing, neurosurgeon Halldór Skúlason says, according to mbl.is.

In an opinion piece published in Morgunblaðið on Friday, Skúlason said the figure was based on referrals and the number of patients needing surgery for conditions including herniated discs and spinal stenosis.

He said the number of operations covered by contracts with Icelandic Health Insurance had been far below what was needed in some categories. When the agency agrees to fund a set number of procedures without taking actual need into account, waiting lists grow, he wrote.

Skúlason welcomed plans announced by the health minister for a meeting with Icelandic Health Insurance to discuss increasing the number of operations in its contract. He said he hoped the promise would be fulfilled quickly, as more than 100 people were waiting in severe pain.

There are currently 114 people on the clinic’s waiting list, Skúlason wrote. Many could be working but are often at home because of pain, and sleep poorly night after night, he said.

“A surgical operation is not simply a cost. A long wait for surgery can be much more expensive for society than the operation itself,” he wrote.