Reducing variation in hospital stay

Expanding day case surgery and implementing enhanced recovery initiatives could offer significant benefits to patients, as well as hospital boards. LOUISE FRAMPTON reports.

Steps forward in anaesthesia, surgical techniques and hospital organisation at every stage of the patient pathway have enabled an ever wider range of procedures to be undertaken as day or short stay cases. With this in mind, a one-day conference, jointly hosted by The Royal College of Surgeons of England and The British Association of Day Surgery (BADS), recently examined the potential to reduce variation in hospital stay across the UK and considered how barriers could be removed to increase adoption of day case surgery. Examining the question: “Day surgery and enhanced recovery: where next?”, the conference highlighted the increasing importance of getting pathways right and adopting new ways of working for clinical staff and acute hospital managers – with the aim of improving recovery from surgery, releasing bed days and lowering infection risk. John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, pointed out that maximising the range and coverage of day surgery has been identified as a priority in the new Government’s White Paper – as is shortening length of stay across the board. Day surgery and enhanced recovery initiatives both share the common aim of reducing length of stay for patients, but central to the agenda for clinicians is the drive to improve quality: “No one wants to be in hospital longer than they have to. Whether providing day case surgery or week case surgery, we want to ensure the best outcomes and patient experience. There is an opportunity to deliver this, as well as to improve efficiency,” John Black commented.

What is enhanced recovery?