Financial Improvement Programme: PTL flagging system to boost theatre efficiency

August 12, 2024

As part of our ongoing financial improvement programme, we will be bringing you regular updates on our progress and focus features on different areas of work.

Through the Theatre efficiency and productivity workstream, a new flagging system has been introduced within the Trusts’ Patient Tracking List (PTL) to identify pre-assessed patients. The flagging system aims to boost the booking process for surgeries. This feature allows the booking team to quickly identify patients that have been pre-assessed and are ‘fit to proceed’ for surgery.  It will help avoid late or last minute cancellations with a like-for-like or similar substitution. This will result in improved theatre productivity, as it will allow more patients, and the right ones, to be booked in for their surgery. In turn, this will increase patient throughput, avoiding lost surgical time and improving patient experience. Ultimately, this will lead to income generation, contributing to the £44million target for this financial year.

We would like to thank The Performance and Insight Team and Mark Whitehouse, Head of Patient Access, along with the Pre-Assessment Task and Finish Group, for all of their efforts in developing this impactful solution. This is another example of how a small change can make a big difference.

Remember: Your idea could be the next thing that makes a real difference – submit them here or contact swbh.recoverypmo@nhs.net.