Updated guidance supporting NHS trusts to expand and increase their use of day case surgery is now available to download on the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) website.
GIRFT has worked with the British Association of Day Surgery (BADS) and the Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) to update its National Day Surgery Delivery Pack (first issued in 2020). The new edition offers practical advice to encourage frontline and operational staff to ‘think day case first’ – helping to maximise the use of day surgery for both elective and non-elective care while ensuring patients receive high-quality care and a positive experience.
The pack highlights the importance of considering the day surgery pathway from the point of referral, and how the involvement of a multidisciplinary team focused on day case principles is vital. As well as outlining general principles for high-quality day case surgery, it identifies 14 specific actions for delivering change: the key components for converting inpatient activity to a day case approach.
Procedure-based best practice pathways can also be found in the pack – examples of day case surgery procedures utilising ‘default’ day surgery pathways – as well as links to resources contained in the GIRFT Right Procedure, Right Place forum, which supports moving some suitable procedures out of a theatre setting. A separate appendix to the guide contains relevant protocols and templates.
"Expanding day surgery safely is key to elective recovery and has clear benefits for patients, staff and services. While significant progress has been made since this guide was originally published, we know there is still further opportunity to increase and broaden day case surgery across England. “This updated guidance is invaluable to clinical, administrative and managerial colleagues to support effective, safe and high-quality day case surgery. Now is the time to consider day surgery as the default option.”
Join our webinar
GIRFT is hosting a webinar with colleagues from BADS and CPOC on 5th November (12.30pm) to discuss the key actions in the National Day Surgery Delivery Pack and how they can be used to fully maximise the use of day surgery.
The session will also highlight and demonstrate the new day case compartment in the Model Health System, which has been recently updated in line with the latest BADS directory of procedures to include outpatient procedures as well as day case activity.
Register here for our session on ‘Key actions for driving up day surgery rates’.
