Dr Foster's case notes

Trends in day surgery rates

BMJ 2005; 331 doi: 10.1136/bmj.331.7520.803 (Published 6 October 2005)
Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:803

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  1. Paul Aylin,
  2. Susan Williams,
  3. Brian Jarman,
  4. Alex Bottle
  1. Dr Foster Unit, Imperial College

    The NHS Plan predicts that 75% of all elective operations will be carried out as day cases.w1According to the British Association of Day Surgery, patients overwhelmingly endorse day surgery and it provides timely treatment, less risk of cancellation, lower incidence of hospital acquired infections, and an earlier return to normal activities.w2We looked at rates of day surgery, using the Audit Commission's collection of 25 operationsw3by using hospital episode statistics between 1996-7 and 2003-4.

    The bottom line

    • Day surgery rates have continued to rise steadily over the past eight years

    • Wide variation between trusts still exists

    • Day case rates have decreased for some procedures

    We looked at trends over time and compared rates across acute trusts. Overall, the proportion of procedures …

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