Effective operating theatre scheduling, by calculating average operation times, significantly reduces session length variation. This ensures optimal utilization of available surgical time for improved efficiency.

Area of Science:

Healthcare Management
Surgical Operations Research

Background:

Operating theatre time is a valuable and limited resource.
Inefficient scheduling leads to underutilization and increased costs.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of a novel scheduling technique on operating theatre utilization.
To determine if improved scheduling can reduce variability in operating session lengths.

Main Methods:

Determining the average duration of common surgical procedures.
Allocating procedures into available operating theatre time based on calculated durations.

Main Results:

The scheduling technique significantly reduced the variation in operating session lengths.
Optimized fitting of operations into available time was achieved.

Conclusions:

Implementing this scheduling method enhances the efficient use of operating theatre resources.
Reduced session variability leads to more predictable surgical workflows.

Distributed Computing And Systems Software

Operating Systems

Scheduling In The Operating Theatre