Dedicated emergency theatres improve service delivery and surgeons' job satisfaction

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.