NCEPOD (1990) states that we must ensure that all emergency patients have prompt access to theatres, critical care facilities, and appropriately trained staff 24 hours/day, every day of the year. Hospitals providing emergency services must provide a dedicated emergency theatre. Our previous study highlighted potential savings and reduced waiting times, leading to the introduction of a dedicated weekly half‐day list. This purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the extra list on both waiting times and spending.
This research is based on a prospective audit of emergency surgery (Lister Hospital, Stevenage) from October‐December 2006. Delay times from booking time to time of operation were calculated. This was assessed based on a standard of a day surgery unit, where the ideal maximum is a half‐day wait. Findings were compared with data prior to the introduction of a dedicated list.
There were 186 operations performed. The mean wait for surgery was 0.7 days/patient, compared with 1.3 days/patient prior to the dedicated list. Assuming that the ideal waiting time is a maximum of half a day, 55 per cent of patients achieved this, compared with 22 per cent prior to the introduction of the list.
The introduction of a dedicated day surgery plastic surgery trauma list led to a significant reduction in patient wait time. The dedicated list also achieved a potential reduction of 900‐bed days/annum, thus saving £180,000/annum for the trust.
