A record number of procedures performed at HUS Neurosurgery in 2024 – waiting list is now under control

Access to neurosurgical care has significantly improved at HUS.

Currently, there are only 13 patients who have waited for their surgery longer than the guaranteed treatment time, which is six months, compared to more than 600 in fall 2023.

In total, 346 patients are on the neurosurgery waiting list within the care guarantee, whereas in August 2023 there were 1350 of them.

“The waiting list situation has greatly improved, and we estimate that by March nobody has to wait longer than the guaranteed maximum waiting time,” says Head Physician Mika Niemelä, head of neurosurgery from HUS Neurocenter.

The majority of the patients who have been on the waiting list for a long time need spinal fusion surgery.

The number of operations in neurosurgery hit a record high in 2024.

“Last year, we performed more surgeries than ever in our history; a total of 3850 procedures. The number includes neurosurgery for children and intravenous procedures,” Niemelä explains.

More ambulatory surgeries and improved efficiency

The number of ambulatory surgeries has increased by 70%.

“We now treat 50% of cervical spine patients and 60% of our non-urgent lumbar spine patients in ambulatory surgery. The most significant factors that enabled us to shorten the waiting list were increasing the number of ambulatory surgeries, improved efficiency at the ward, and shorter treatment times,” says Niemelä.

Access to neurosurgery declined during the COVID-19 pandemic and at the turn of the year 2022–2023. When the Bridge Hospital opened in early 2023, only three of the six operating rooms intended for neurosurgery were in use due to a nursing shortage.

Clearing the waiting list was the number one goal for 2024.

“We put significant effort in recruiting and training nursing professionals, and together with the Center for Perioperative and Intensive Care, we got more staff in the operating rooms and our ward. Together with the OR staff, our neurosurgeons were prepared to use all of the available operating room time as efficiently as possible, and we did everything we could to avoid cancelling surgeries. Our ward staff was also able to meet the increasing demand by developing their work,” explains Nina Forss, director of Neurocenter.

Now all the six operating rooms in the Bridge Hospital are in full use. Surgeries also continue in Hospital Orton until April. Children's surgeries are performed in New Children's Hospital.

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