WTP7.6 Novel ambulatory surgical pathways can reduce operation waiting times whilst maintaining patient outcomes

Abstract

Abstract Introduction A record number of patients are currently awaiting NHS treatment. A novel ambulatory surgical pathway (Rapid Access Theatre (RAT) lists) can reduce patient wait times for common operations such as cholecystectomies and ease the burden on the traditional elective operating list. However, it is important that this approach does not jeopardise patient safety. Method All non-inpatient cholecystectomies carried out in a large teaching hospital from 01/10/21 – 31/01/22 were analysed. Operations carried out on RAT lists were compared to those on elective lists for time to surgery from listing, post-op length of stay (LOS), number of patient returns within 30 days and rate of post-op complications. Results There were 85 cholecystectomies carried out on RAT lists and 86 carried out on elective lists. The average time to surgery from listing was 70.56 days for RAT lists and 152.19 for elective lists (p = 0.0005). The average post-op LOS was 0.73 for RAT lists and 1.00 for elective lists (p = 0.43). The number of patients who returned to hospital within 30 days of their operation was 8 (10.39%) for RAT lists and 11 (14.86%) for elective lists (p = 0.751). The number of post-op complications was 10 (13.33%) for RAT lists and 13 (17.81%) for elective lists (p = 0.52). Conclusions The introduction of a novel ambulatory surgical pathway (RAT lists) has reduced the waiting time for cholecystectomies whilst maintaining outcomes and patient safety. This pathway is therefore cost effective and an important tool for reducing length waiting lists.