Regular refurbishment of operating theatres is key to ensuring a truly fitfor-purpose 21st century surgical environment, yet estates teams must balance the need for periods of theatre closure with maintaining operational delivery and minimising disruption to patient flow.
Regular refurbishment of hospital operating theatres is an important element in ensuring a truly fit-for-purpose 21st century surgical environment, yet estates teams must balance the need for periods of theatre closure to enable such projects to progress, with the requirement to maintain operational delivery and minimise disruption to patient flow. One of the major ways of doing this, argues Nick Jackson, commercial director at Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, is to harness the benefits of today’s highly equipped and flexible mobile operating theatres.
Acute hospitals currently face significant challenges both in maintaining the quality of service provision, and continual improvement of clinical outcomes, in line with patient expectations and hospitals’ key performance indicators. All this must be accomplished while striving to achieve the particular Trust’s economic objectives. In the current climate, where pressure across the health service is consistently high, any closure of operating theatres can have a significant impact. Despite this, upgrades to operating theatre systems and technology are a necessity, and periods of closure for equipment replacement or larger-scale refurbishments are unavoidable. For an estates team, this need must be balanced with the requirement to maintain operational delivery and minimise disruption to patient flow.
Maintaining service provision
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