Enhancing Operating Theatre Efficiency of Private Hospital in Kuwait; Business Management Approach

Enhancing operating theatre efficiency in a dedicated for high standard clinical care before profitability private hospital was observed as an urgent issue after reviewing the financial reports which reflected amplified revenue nevertheless decreased profit. Reviewing literature supported categorising the problems into four domains and accordingly our prompt efforts were targeting four domains; the first domain is scheduling triggered by complaints of surgeons reporting conflicting schedules, blocked theatres, cancelled or postponed cases. Supply management, the second domain, noted lack of monitoring mechanisms, uncontrolled consumption, non-moving and expired stocks, primitive system processes and instruments management. The third domain is patient safety which alerted for the unsafe practices while documentation and data management as a fourth domain identified absence of indicators to assist in monitoring efficiency. Following the health service executive (HSE) model the initiation phase included emerging the teams and developing a common vision. The planning phase described the assessment and the development of initiatives to improve performance utilising SWOT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). The implementation phase targeted the changes within the domains and these changes included developing scheduling and standardized practice policies and guidelines to steer schedule development were structured, surgical practices aimed at standardising use of supplies and instruments. In supply management, inventories of instruments, medications, and supplies were done; check lists developed to monitor utilisation and inventory standards created. Patient safety implemented safety regulations and set systematic monitoring of compliance, while data management worked on revising and devising new forms integrating essential fields to capture indicator related data. The evaluation phase described the monitoring tools and measured outcomes. The change reflected a noticeable improvement in most of the domains however further monitoring is needed to collect enough data to evaluate progress in relation to operating theatre efficiency.