ABSTRACT
Purpose: Hospitals worldwide face huge patient backlogs following the delays caused by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Interventional Radiology (IR) is required to increase productivity to 120% in order to address the backlog and keep up with ongoing service demands. After a period of observation within the department, lack of recovery space was noted as a rate limiting step in patient and theatre turnover. Material(s) and Method(s): Data regarding a selection of day case procedures was obtained from patient tracking software. A total of 214 cases were reviewed. A literature review was also performed to determine the recommended recovery time for each procedure to develop new departmental guidelines. Result(s): The average recovery time for some procedures exceeded the recommendations in the literature. Results are listed as procedure: average recovery time;recommended time (hours:mins). The availability of a doctor to review and discharge patients was noted to be the cause of delay in some cases. A nurse-led discharge pathway, in another surgical speciality, has been reported in the literature to improve efficiency while maintaining safety. Conclusion(s): The recovery times for day case procedures far exceeds the reported recommendations, limiting our productivity. At present, a nurse-led discharge pathway does not exist within IR. We plan to explore this avenue as a means to increase patient turnover. Further work in training and creation of standard operating procedures is required before this can be implemented. (Table Presented).