Welsh Health Board

2021-2022

Rebuilding theatre activity after COVID-19

How a Welsh Health Board reopened theatre sessions, aligned workforce capacity and improved in-session productivity following the pandemic.

The Challenge

The Health Board needed to restore theatre activity safely while managing staffing, bed capacity and the continuing effects of the pandemic.

Theatre sessions remained below pre-COVID levels following the first wave of the pandemic. Social distancing, workforce gaps and limited elective bed capacity restricted how quickly activity could return, while waiting lists continued to grow. The Health Board needed an immediate plan for reopening sessions and improving in-session utilisation, supported by a realistic view of the theatre, ward, HDU and critical-care workforce required.

Results at a glance

17% increase

in average cases per session

7% increase

in theatre utilisation

5% increase

in average weekly cases

65 to 87 sessions

increase in four-hour theatre sessions

What we changed

Productive Partners combined workforce and capacity modelling with specialty-level implementation and renewed planning discipline.

Model workforce and capacity

Calculated the staffing required to reopen theatre sessions and mapped dependencies across theatres, wards, HDU and critical care.

Focus on priority specialties

Used the theatre productivity dashboard to identify five specialties with the greatest opportunity and agreed fortnightly improvement plans with clinical leads.

Reopen sessions safely

Worked with the theatre matron to phase the return of sessions, account for winter pressures and align available staff and beds with clinical priorities.

Re-establish planning controls

Reintroduced 6-4-2 planning, weekly scheduling meetings, list-lockdown rules and regular performance reviews for underused sessions.

The outcome

The three sites increased activity while rebuilding the operational foundations for sustainable theatre delivery.

Site A increased its average weekly cases by 5% after implementing changes and maintained utilisation at the 80th percentile despite a complex acute and specialist case mix.

Site B increased average cases per session by 17% and utilisation by 7% as weekly four-hour sessions rose from 10 to 45.5.

Site C increased weekly four-hour sessions from 65 to 87 between October 2021 and February 2022 and became the first site in the Health Board to return to pre-COVID levels.

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over a 4-month period

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40% reduction

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