Preventing lost time in the operating theatre

The NHS has been placed into an unprecedented situation both during and following the level of demand from the COVID-19 pandemic and now from the resultant size of the waiting list for treatments and elective surgery. Of those people waiting for interventional treatments, it can be safely assumed that many will include some form of endoscopic procedure. With rigid endoscopes, the expected usage levels are likely to be highest in orthopaedic arthroscopy and laparoscopy procedures, which could be a major proportion of treatments on the current waiting list.  

NHS operating theatres will be put under immense pressure as the focal point for delivering throughput of patients on the waiting list. It can be expected that the demand for using private healthcare facilities to augment the NHS operating theatres will continue. In respect of endoscopy, this has had a positive impact in the operating theatre – providing reductions in procedure times, reduced exposure to risk for the patient, and the development of new surgical techniques that once required major and often traumatic surgery.

The development of endoscopic procedures over recent years has led to the ‘scope’ being a fundamental device requirement in many procedures from observation, biopsy, through to major surgical procedures across many specialties.