A grading system in day surgery: effective utilization of theatre time.

An in-house audit revealed a theatre utilization time in the day surgery unit of 70%. The reason identified for this poor theatre utilization was patient selection by the clerical staff based on a fixed number of cases per session. A grading system which estimated the anticipated duration of operation time was introduced as the basis for patient selection in the day surgery. A pilot study of 20 patients revealed that the system was both effective and simple to implement. It was therefore adopted. A re-audit of a further 299 patients treated using the grading system revealed that theatre utilization time had increased from 70 to 98%. The number of patients treated per session also increased, thus effectively reducing the waiting list. The grading system can be used in all clinical specialities providing day case surgery and we recommend it.