Day case surgery in otolaryngology: the setting up and first year of a freestanding unit.

A freestanding day case surgery unit for ENT cases is described and the first year's experience reviewed. Special attention is paid to the variety, and complications, of surgery as the freestanding unit is 17 miles from the main ENT centre. The difficulties of running the unit are reviewed. The problems encountered include arranging training for the staff and maintaining optimum throughput of cases. Consideration is also given to the setting up and running costs of the unit. Four hundred and seventy-seven patients were treated from 46 lists. This accounted for 64 per cent of the total number of patients having ENT surgery in 1992 from our area.