Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is now providing day case surgery for patients with an enlarged prostate, in response to a recommendation from the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme.
Around 5-10 per cent of patients are opting to have the new UroLift procedure, which is minimally invasive and can be carried out in just 20 minutes.
As well as relieving bed pressures at the trust, the procedure also has significant benefits for patients, who have a lower risk of complications and can be treated without the need for a catheter. With their total hospital stay taking just half a day, patients are able to avoid a lengthy admission and return home the same morning.
The new UroLift procedure is carried out by two consultants, who received training in the technique from the manufacturer and other trusts. Patients opting for the day case surgery are booked in as a group of around six cases, allowing the urology team to focus on other surgical procedures at other times.
All patients are reviewed before discharge; made simple by the location of the trust’s recovery area, which is based next to the operating theatres. NUH is monitoring outcomes and readmission rates and, so far, has not had to readmit any patients following the procedure.
Mr Gurminder Mann, Consultant Urologist at NUH, said: “We were keen to move toward a day case procedure and the GIRFT recommendation gave us a focus to achieve it. It was important to us that we chose an evidence-based approach with NICE approval, which is what led us to choose UroLift. So far we’re very pleased with the results.”
Published in July 2018, the GIRFT national report into urology services recommends reducing the length of stay for urological procedures, including prostate surgery.
Following the initial success of UroLift, NUH aims to increase the volume of day case surgery it carries out so that more patients can benefit from a shortened length of stay. The team also intends to move away from using general anaesthetic for the procedure, instead offering sedation, which will allow patients to recover more quickly and carries less risk.
For more information on the GIRFT urology programme, visit our dedicated workstream page. You can also read the full national report here.
Image caption: The Urology team at NUH ready to perform the trust’s first day case prostate procedure.
