A detailed video guiding viewers through the pathways and protocols of a successful centre for ambulatory hip and knee replacement surgery is now available to view.
Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) worked with clinical staff and managers at the South West Ambulatory Orthopaedic Centre (SWAOC) to shoot the video, to support other teams to learn from their processes without the need to visit the NHS Nightingale Hospital in Exeter, where SWAOC is based.
SWAOC has consistently demonstrated best practice in length of stay (LoS) for arthroplasty; 99% of its patients go home on day one and the centre has a 55% day case rate for hip and knee replacement surgery. Patient feedback has been excellent, with 99% rating their care as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.
As an exemplar, the centre has historically attracted a large number of visiting orthopaedic teams interested in learning from SWAOC’s processes, to support their own work to recover elective surgery in their trusts and elective hubs.
Narrated by staff from the centre, the new 12-minute video outlines the standardised pathway and protocols employed for ambulatory care – from pre-assessment and patient selection through to post-discharge and follow-up – enabling others to learn from the SWAOC team and work towards reducing their own LoS.
The video is among the range of resources in GIRFT’s new one-stop shop for hip and knee resources on FutureNHS. As well as the SWAOC video, the page contains guidance, pathways, case studies, webinar recordings, template documents and a forum to support orthopaedic teams committed to reducing LoS for hip and knee replacement.
