Surgeons at one London hospital are performing an entire week’s operations in a single day as part of a ground-breaking initiative that could help tackle the record waiting lists in the NHS.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has already slashed its own elective backlog in certain specialities by running monthly HIT (High Intensity Theatre) lists at weekends.
Under the innovative model, two operating theatres run side by side and as soon as one procedure is finished the next patient is already under anaesthetic and ready to be wheeled in.
Nurses are on standby to sterilise the operating theatre and instead of taking 40 minutes between cases it takes less than two, the only delay is the 30 second it takes for the anti-bacterial cleaning fluid to work.
Kariem El-Boghdadly, the consultant anaesthetist who designed the programme with his colleague Imran Ahmad, compares it to a Formula One pit stop. “They’ve got one person doing the rear right wheel, one person doing the front left wheel. It’s the same thing. The operating theatre is effectively like that.”
The lead consultant surgeon “is bouncing from one theatre to the next doing the critical phase of the operation” with more junior surgeons assisting, he added.
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He insisted no corners were cut that might put patients at risk. “It’s all completely safe but what we’ve found with these novel models is that we can be far more efficient. In a day we’ll do two to three times more cases than we would routinely.”
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El-Boghdadly said the programme had been successful with many different types of surgery. “We’ve substantially reduced our waiting lists in various specialities. Normally, you’d do three knee replacements in a day, potentially, four if you’re lucky and with the HIT model, we did 12 a day, and we finished early. We’re always finishing early, because the model is so efficient.”
Ahmad said the HIT list model could have a dramatic impact on the national elective backlog if rolled out more widely. “Every time we do one of these HIT lists I’m amazed how efficient it is,” he said. He has discussed the approach with officials at NHS England and the Department for Health and Social Care. Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has also expressed an interest.
That makes... an awful amount of sense, and I'm surprised it wasn't done already. It reminds me of how my dentist has multiple chairs. Her patients are brought in and prepped by an assistant, and...
That makes... an awful amount of sense, and I'm surprised it wasn't done already.
It reminds me of how my dentist has multiple chairs. Her patients are brought in and prepped by an assistant, and when she's done with one patient she has another one ready to go.
Not gonna lie, I thought it was always like this. When it comes to life saving surgeries, what's the reason for waiting fourty minutes between surgeries?
Not gonna lie, I thought it was always like this. When it comes to life saving surgeries, what's the reason for waiting fourty minutes between surgeries?
It sounds like there's increased staffing in this model if I'm reading between the lines with nurses on standby line. So normally they'll run without the extra nurses and then it takes time for...
It sounds like there's increased staffing in this model if I'm reading between the lines with nurses on standby line.
So normally they'll run without the extra nurses and then it takes time for the nurses who are in a surgery to break down gowns and gloves from the surgery, clean the suit, prep the room, get prepped for next surgery. Since they're not on standby normally they probably also need time to wait for anesthesia to kick in as well.
Just my guess based on the language use and how overworked nursds are in the traditional model.
From the article:
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That makes... an awful amount of sense, and I'm surprised it wasn't done already.
It reminds me of how my dentist has multiple chairs. Her patients are brought in and prepped by an assistant, and when she's done with one patient she has another one ready to go.
As long as they don't make a point about being fast, I don't see a problem.
My dentist, the assistants all stay put, and the dentist moves around.
I can just do walkins, they're that fast.
Not gonna lie, I thought it was always like this. When it comes to life saving surgeries, what's the reason for waiting fourty minutes between surgeries?
It sounds like there's increased staffing in this model if I'm reading between the lines with nurses on standby line.
So normally they'll run without the extra nurses and then it takes time for the nurses who are in a surgery to break down gowns and gloves from the surgery, clean the suit, prep the room, get prepped for next surgery. Since they're not on standby normally they probably also need time to wait for anesthesia to kick in as well.
Just my guess based on the language use and how overworked nursds are in the traditional model.
Mirror, for those hit by the paywall:
https://archive.is/K5VFf