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Table 1 A summary of general surgical operating list characteristics in the DS and MT departments between 1997 & 2004.

From: Is theatre utilization a valid performance indicator for NHS operating theatres?

Operating list factors

Day Surgery (DS)

Main Theatres (MT)

Operating list volume

  

   Mean list-score in units per hour (SD)

70.3(26.0)

86.86 (38.29)

Session factors

  

   Session type

  

Percentage of operations performed on Morning lists (n)

38.2%(3226)

15.9%(1156)

Percentage of operations performed on Afternoon lists (n)

61.1%(5083)

17.4%(1265)

Percentage of operations performed on 'All-day' lists (n)

-

66.8%(4862)

   No. of theatre suites

5

10

Personnel factors

  

   Surgeons

  

Total number of surgeons coded on database

133

125

No. of surgeons with >100 operative procedures

16

16

Percentage of total cases performed by surgeons with>100 cases (n)

79.3% (6594)

78.7% (5732)

   Anaesthetists

  

Total no. of Anaesthetists' coded on database

246

238

No. of anaesthetists with >100 operative procedures

10

14

Percentage of total cases performed by anaesthetists with>100 cases (n)

23. 9% (1983)

65. 6%(5290)

List factors

  

   Overruns

  

Overrunning operating lists (%)

627/2092 (30.0%)

1079/3234 (33.3%)

Median list overrun (Q1-Q3,n) in minutes

50 (24 – 84, n = 627)

-

Median list overrun (Q1-Q3,n) as a percentage of session duration (%)

-

13.1(5.5–26.2, n = 1079)

Number.(%) of MT lists where no overrun occurred

-

2262 (69.9%)

Number(%) of MT lists where overrun : session length = 0–0.1

-

403 (12.5%)

Number(%) of MT lists where overrun : session length = 0.11–0.2

-

215 (6.6%)

Number(%) of MT lists where overrun : session length = 0.21–0.3

-

150 (4.6%)

Number(%) of MT lists where overrun : session length >0.31

-

204 (6.3%)

   Late-starts

  

Median (Q1-Q3, n) late-start in minutes

32 (17–48, 2087)

65 (41–90, 3229)

%(n). DSC operations on lists where Late start <30 minutes

996 (47.61%)

-

%(n). DSC operations on lists where Late start is 30–60 minutes

870 (41.59%)

-

%(n). DSC operations on lists where Late start is > 60 minutes

221 (10.56%)

-

Number (%) of MT lists where no Late-start occurred

-

103 (3.18%)

Number(%) of MT lists where Late-start: session length = 0–0.1

-

730 (22.57%)

Number(%) of MT lists where Late-start : session length = 0.11–0.2

-

1564 (48.36%)

Number(%) of MT lists where Late-start : session length = 0.21–0.3

-

522 (16.14%)

Number(%) of MT lists where Late-start : session length > 0.31

-

315 (9.74%)