A Patient is suspended from the Elective Admission List for medical reasons or if they are unavailable for admission for a specified period because of family commitments, holidays or other reasons. During this period of suspension, an Offer of Admission cannot be made. Note that a Patient cannot be suspended from the Elective Waiting list after an Offer of Admission has been made.
Periods of suspension are normally deducted from the waiting time from the Date Decided to Admit (for this Provider). However if the Patient has self-deferred, the period of suspension will be deducted from the date offered for admission which was refused.
A Patient who becomes medically unfit for treatment can be removed from the waiting list altogether but it should be stressed that this would need to be a clinical judgment made locally between the consultant and the GP. Patients on an Elective Admission List should be those who need treatment and who are fit for surgery when offered admission. Patients must be clinically ready to undergo surgery to be placed on a waiting list for surgery. However, Patients can become medically unfit for treatment while already on an Elective Admission List. They may develop conditions, such as diabetes or obesity that would need to be treated before surgery could take place.
Once the period of suspension has passed the Patient is restored to valid membership of an Elective Admission List.