Theatre times and delays in elective oral and maxillofacial lists

Abstract

AbstractAim: Cancelled operations are a major drain on hospital resources. The maxillofacial department at the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) performs at least 14 elective operating sessions each week. A study reported that our cancellation rate or performance indicator (PI) was 0.3% at LR1. The most common reasons for cancellation of procedures at that time were lack of post‐operative beds and insufficient operating time. This study aimed to continue to develop a methodology for looking at this complex issue and to further investigate the reasons for delay to assess whether the system could be managed more efficiently.Material and Methods: In this study, the computerised theatre records system has been utilised to investigate the reasons for theatre delays. A retrospective analysis of data for 1212 patients treated in the 1 year period between December 2006 and December 2007 was performed.Results and Conclusions: Eight hundred and forty‐nine patients were treated on a day‐surgery basis, of which 710 were dentoalveolar procedures and 139 were other operations. The remaining 363 patients were treated as in‐patients of which 97 were oncological patients, 84 orthognathic, 35 salivary gland surgery, 65 traumas, and 82 other operations. Sixty‐four (5.28%) of these treatment episodes were logged as delayed. The main reasons for delays were related to the ward (17%) or anaesthetist (22%).The operating time consumed 74% of the overall time in theatre complex. The utilisation of operating time was much better for in‐patient operations (81%) than day‐surgery procedures (64%). Suggestions have been made to reduce theatre delays.