OP E R ATING THEATR E S
Although the immediate impact may be shouldered by HCPs, patient outcomes will also be severely harmed if the backlog persists. This view was shared by the 67% of respondents who felt that the elective care backlog would lead to worsened patient outcomes – the biggest threat the elective care backlog poses to the health service. This is exacerbated by the fact that the backlog is disproportionately affecting critical specialties such as cardiovascular and orthopaedic surgery, as shown in the survey results. The longer the backlog persists, the greater risk to patients there is: it is incumbent on all of us to do our utmost to ensure that patients receive the best possible treatment they can, as soon as they can. While this will be undeniably difficult in the
face of the elective care backlog, we must recognise how this contributes to worsening patient outcomes and the role industry could have in preventing that.
There is a clear appetite for a greater role for industry and external organisations in helping to drive elective outcomes: 98% of respondents agreed that industry could help them and their team in some way to clear the backlog of surgical procedures at their hospital Trust. Whether this is through further training on infection control regimes, to the greater use of efficiency tools, it is up to industry to help provide solutions that can enable effective learning and help staff clear the backlog. But what are the specific ways in which industry can deliver? Nearly half (48%) of respondents said that one of
main ways that industry could help them and their team to clear the elective backlog at their Trust was through the provision of high-quality equipment. Protecting HCPs with high-quality equipment adds a sense of protection that is invaluable: for example, we know that needlestick injuries in the operating theatre are a source of physical and emotional distress among HCPs.1 By using high-quality gloves in the operating theatre, hospitals are not only improving the chances of uneventful recovery for patients but offering greater reassurances to staff that they are protected from harm. After all they have done for us in the last year, we must seize the opportunity to build a more innovative, value-based health service, where the care given by staff is reflected in the products they use. Much has been said in recent years on
the importance of value-based procurement, but little has been done to demonstrate support for greater use of the application of these models in day-to-day procurement decisions. The survey demonstrated clear support, with 71% of respondents stating that greater value-based procurement models could help them in driving recoveries in elective care. This suggests that when procuring equipment, hospital Trusts should consider moving towards a value-based procurement model which ensures that tender documents quantify and measure for reduced time in motion and value of service delivery, not just the cost of equipment itself.
Efficiencies in procedures Industry can also support surgical departments to deliver efficiencies, while maintaining high standards of care. There is, of course, no single approach to increasing
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