1237 Audit Project on Golden Patient Policy Adherence and Its Improvement to Theatre Efficiency

Abstract

Abstract Aim The Golden Patient (GP) is the first patient listed for theatre next day identified and reviewed the day before, with the aim to improve theatre start times and overall efficiency. We aimed to compare the data before implementation of the GP against post-implementation at University Hospital North Durham (UHND) to assess if improvement in efficiency was achieved. We also aimed to analyse the appropriateness of patients listed as GP. Method We analysed data of 45 listed GPs between April and August 2022 as well as 50 patients listed first in theatre prior to GP implementation and compared the documented operation start times. We then compared the data of the listed GPs against local trust criteria for identifying the GP which includes ASA grade/ anaesthetic type, case duration, surgical team availability. Results When comparing pre- and post-implementation of the Golden Patient guidelines, surgical start times improved on average by 30 minutes. In the GPs, 62.9% met all criteria. Compliance was mostly affected by the number of patients not sent for before 0830 AM (only 68.6% of cases met this criterion.) Otherwise, 97.1% of cases met ASA/anaesthetic criteria, and 94.3% met case duration criteria. Conclusions We saw a significant improvement in the average starting times of theatres with implementation of the GP. We also found that we were good at identifying potential GPs however there was much room for improvement with logistics and actually getting patients to theatre quickly.