Dual operations credited with reducing waiting times

Health bosses said the new dual technique was getting good results

A new operating technique has been credited with helping to reduce waiting times for orthopaedic patients at hospitals in Nottingham.

The elective orthopaedic team at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has been trialling a "dual operating technique", which allows one surgeon to complete up to 10 hip or knee replacements in a single day, compared to five procedures on a single theatre list.

Two operating theatres are prepared at the same time under a single surgeon assisted by a senior fellow and an arthroplasty care practitioner, with two anaesthetists, and two anaesthetic and surgical teams each.

Waiting times for the same procedure were almost twice as long this time last year, the trust said, with most now done in a shorter time than the 65 weeks set as a target for the NHS.

'Minimising impact'

Orthopaedic consultant Benjamin Bloch introduced the dual operating technique at NUH.

"We have four orthopaedic theatres at [Nottingham] City Hospital, and normally all of these are occupied, but sometimes you have a surgeon who's on annual leave or sick, and you risk having an empty theatre, cancelling elective surgeries and ultimately an unutilised resource," he said.

"Previously you would have just lost the use of that theatre, and the surgeries planned for the day.

"By one surgeon completing two lists, we are maximising capacity in a safe manner and not having to cancel any operations."

Lauren Draper, elective orthopaedic speciality general manager, said dual operating has been "reducing costs, avoiding unnecessary clinic closures and minimising impact on the outpatient backlog".

"We were able to meet the NHS England mandate of having no patients waiting longer than 65 weeks at the end of September, compared to where we were last year, with patients waiting almost double this time," she said.

"The next mandate is having no patients waiting more than 52 weeks by the end of March next year, and we are on track to meet that as long as we retain our theatre capacity."