Adedoyin Ojo
Introduction
Progressive revolution in surgical techniques and anaesthesia have contributed to day case procedures being the preferred and recommended mode for hospitals.
Methods
An audit of day case procedures at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, United Kingdom was done. This included all day case procedures from January 2023 to December 2024. The data obtained included the age, surgeries performed, mode of anaesthesia and outcomes including length of hospital stay and recovery.
Results
The RUH is a 540 bedded hospital with 17 theatres. It provides care for half a million people in the local area. In 2023 and 2024, there were 586,608 outpatient appointments with 98,602 A&E attendances. 3,566 operations were performed and 164,571 diagnostic tests were done. 2,318 (65%) cases were done with the intention of being day-cases. Majority of the cases (97%) were electives. Age range of patients was 3 - 96 with a mean of 53.2 ± 18.4. 85.8% of the cases were done under general anaesthesia. In theatre duration ranged from 0 to 834 mins (with a mean of 73.8 ± 44.7). Mean duration of recovery was 82.3 ± 99.4 minutes. 95.2% of cases spent less than 24 hours in the hospital.
Conclusions
A large number of operations carried out at RUH are performed as day cases. This has been beneficial for patients and it proffers a much more efficient use of NHS resources.
Authors
Adedoyin Ojo
Royal United Hospital, Bath, United Kingdom