Comment EDITOR’S COMMENTwith LOUISE FRAMPTON THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL
OPERATING THEATRES
Editor
Louise Frampton
louiseframpton@stepcomms.com
Technical Editor Kate Woodhead
Journal Administration Katy Cockle
katycockle@stepcomms.com
Design Steven Dillon
Business Manager
James Scrivens
jamesscrivens@stepcomms.com
Publisher Geoff King
geoffking@stepcomms.com
Publishing Director Trevor Moon
trevormoon@stepcomms.com
STEP COMMUNICATIONS ISSN No. 1478-5641
© Step Communications Ltd, 2024 Single copy: £19.00 per issue. Annual journal subscription: UK £114.00 Overseas: £150.00
The Clinical Services Journal is published in January, February, March, April, May, June, August, September, October and November by Step Communications Ltd, Step House, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1892 779999 Email:
info@clinicalservicesjournal.com Web:
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com
The Publisher is unable to take any responsibility for views
expressed by contributors. Editorial views are not necessarily shared by the journal. Readers are expressly advised that while the contents of this publication are believed to be accurate, correct and complete, no reliance should be placed upon its contents as being applicable to any particular circumstances.
This publication is copyright under the Berne Convention and the International Copyright Convention.
All rights reserved, apart from any copying under the UK
Copyright Act 1956, part 1, section 7. Multiple copies of the contents of the publication without permission is always illegal.
Follow us: @csjmagazine
Follow the CSJ LinkedIn page. Search Clinical Services Journal
Promises, promises, promises…
At the time of writing this, I was about to visit the voting booth to put a cross against the party that I hoped would win this election. I thought long and hard about what really matters to me and what I had learned during my 17 years as editor of The Clinical Services Journal. During that time, I have sat on the side lines and observed how the NHS has performed under the leadership of the various parties – it has given me a great deal to ponder. Over the past month, the news has been filled with promises: promises of more staff, promises of more money, and promises of better hospitals… The Royal College of Surgeons is calling on the next Government to commit to a £6.4 billion annual funding increase to upgrade NHS facilities to reduce NHS waiting lists to pre-pandemic level. The call coincided with NHS performance data which showed that the waiting list for consultant-led hospital treatment in England rose to 7,572,563. The next government will have a great deal to do, to help the NHS recover, and they will need to deliver on their promises as best they can. The nation will be watching closely. Meanwhile, the NHS continues to battle with the backlog, and theatre teams have
innovated to bring down the waiting lists as best they can. Surgical hubs, High Intensity (HIT) lists, day case surgery, robot-assisted surgery and virtual wards have all played their part and continue to do so. This annual Operating Theatres supplement looks at how Trusts can tackle the barriers to day case surgery. It also looks at how the Royal Surrey is breaking world records with the most robot-assisted radical prostatectomies performed in a single day. Learning from top performing theatre teams will be key to helping Trusts across the UK to make a dent in their waiting lists. We also need to look after the welfare of staff at this challenging time to ensure the mental health and wellbeing of theatre teams. We cannot simply make staff do more and make them work for longer hours – it simply isn’t safe. Professor Vivien Lees, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, comments: “More weekend and evening working may be part of the solution to cutting waits, but with 61% of the surgical workforce already saying they are burnt out and stressed, these initiatives will only take us so far. “If the NHS is to attract and retain the staff, it needs to get waiting times back to even pre- pandemic levels, the next UK Government must introduce a wellbeing package to improve their physical and cultural workplace environments and offer greater flexible working options.” Increasing pressure on an already burnout out workforce not only leads to stress, mental health issues, absenteeism, and staff leaving the profession – it leads to incivility. This edition discusses how this can impact patient safety and the performance of surgical teams. Innovation in MedTech will also play an important role in tackling the backlog going
forward, including robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and intelligent monitoring. These new technologies offer the potential to facilitate faster recovery, greater efficiency, better outcomes and better use of resources. In recent years, we have seen an upsurge in robotic technologies. The surgical robotics
market is anticipated to reach $18,410.9 million by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 7.78%. (Surgical Robotics Market Size, Trends and Forecast to 2032,
www.bisresearch.com) New entrants to the market are pushing the boundaries of surgery, reducing the cost and are increasingly integrating AI. However, at a recent gathering of clinical engineers, EBME Expo Chair, John Sandham, pointed out that less than 4% of NHS spend is on healthcare technologies. The next government will need to enable Trusts to increase their spend on MedTech if they are to tackle waiting lists, as well as improve efficiency and patient outcomes. But let’s not forget the promises made around sustainability… The Green Theatre will have a significant contribution towards delivering the NHS ambition’s on achieving Net Zero. Let’s ensure that is a promise that we all keep. Ultimately, it is a promise for a better future.
louiseframpton@stepcomms.com Get in touch and give us your views, email me:
July 2024 I
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com 5
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64
