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Dedicated emergency theatres improve service delivery and surgeons' job satisfaction Stupart, Douglas A., Watters, David A., Guest, Glenn D., Cuthbert, Vanessa and Ryan, Shannon 2013, Dedicated emergency theatres improve service delivery and surgeons' job satisfaction, ANZ journal of surgery, vol. 83, no. 7-8, pp. 549-553. Title Dedicated emergency theatres improve service delivery and surgeons' job satisfaction Author(s) Stupart, Douglas A. Watters, David A. Guest, Glenn D. Cuthbert, Vanessa Ryan, Shannon Journal name ANZ journal of surgery Volume number 83 Issue number 7-8 Start page 549 End page 553 Total pages 5 Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia Place of publication Richmond, Vic. Publication date 2013-08 ISSN 1445-1433 Keyword(s) emergency health-care system general surgery Summary Background There are well-described benefits to separating emergency and elective surgery. Geelong Hospital lacked the resources to implement a separate acute surgical unit, but instituted daily dedicated emergency general surgery operating sessions, managed by an on-site consultant. This study aims to assess the impact of this on service delivery and surgeons' job satisfaction. Methods From 1 February 2011, daily half-day operating lists were allocated for general surgical emergencies. Patients treated on these lists were studied prospectively until 31 December 2011. Theatre waiting times and hospital stay were compared with the previous year. A quality-of-life questionnaire was administered to participating surgeons before the project commenced and after 6 months. Results A total of 966 patients underwent surgery during an emergency general surgery admission in the control period, and 984 underwent surgery during the study period. The median time from arrival in the emergency department (ED) to surgery was reduced from 19 (18–21) h in the control group to 18 (17–19) h in the study group (P = 0.033). The time from booking surgery to operation was reduced from 4.8 (4.3–5.4) h to 3.9 (3.5–4.3) h (P < 0.0001). For patients undergoing emergency laparotomy, the time from booking to surgery was reduced from 3.1 (2.2–4.1) to 2.4 (1.8–2.9) h, and hospital stay was reduced from 13 (11–15) to 10 (9–12) days (P = 0.0089). The surgeons' responses to the questionnaires showed improvement in job satisfaction (P < 0.0001). Conclusion This intervention has improved service delivery for emergency surgery patients, and improved the participating surgeons' job satisfaction. Language eng Field of Research 110399 Clinical Sciences not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 970111 Expanding Knowledge in the Medical and Health Sciences HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30050857 Document type: Journal Article Collection: School of Medicine Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 26 Feb 2013, 14:52:39 EST Wed, 27 Feb 2013, 09:19:38 EST Thu, 28 Feb 2013, 10:28:01 EST Mon, 17 Jun 2013, 12:29:31 EST Mon, 12 Aug 2013, 12:02:02 EST Mon, 12 Aug 2013, 15:32:26 EST Filtered Full Access Statistics: 30 Abstract Views, 0 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 26 Feb 2013, 14:52:27 EST by Jane Moschetti

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