By Allen, L., Stoney, N., Thomas, T. 

 

Same-day cancellation of surgeries negatively impacts patient experience and leads to poor resource utilisation. With an ever-growing demand for theatre slots following the COVID-19 pandemic, the effective use of theatre time is of utmost importance.  

Our audit aimed to determine the reasons for same-day gynaecological surgery cancellation at Walsall Manor Hospital (WMH), United Kingdom.

A retrospective audit was conducted at WMH over a 17-month period between April 2021 and August 2022.  The reasons behind all same-day gynaecological surgery cancellations within this timeframe were evaluated using hospital databases. Themes were drawn from the data and discussed with the gynaecology team to collaboratively elucidate solutions.