Description

Safe day-case surgery pathways offer to reduce pressure on hospitals by avoiding overnight inpatient admission. This is particularly relevant given the intense pressures on hospital resources in the United Kingdom. Urological surgery includes a number of frequently performed operations for which safe day-case surgery pathways have been demonstrated. These include bladder tumour resection (TURBT), prostate resection or enucleation using diathermy or laser (TURP and TUEP), and ureteroscopy and laser for upper urinary tract stones (URS). All of these operation types involve endoscopic access to the bladder via the urethra, and do not involve skin incisions. They can be performed under general or spinal anaesthesia, although spinal anaesthesia is rarely used for ureteroscopy.

For the 12 months from December 2021, the national median day-case rate for transurethral resection of bladder tumour In England was 21.1%, and ranged from 0% to 87.3% at different hospitals, with an interquartile range (IQR) of 10.5% to 37.7%, and 23,071 cases performed in total. For bladder outflow obstruction surgery the median day-case rate was 7.7% (range 0% to 82.4%, IQR 4.4% to 19.1%, 18,912 cases), and this includes TURP and TUEP. For URS the median day case rate was 60.1% (range 0% to 87.9%, IQR 44.4% to 69.7%, 23,130 cases). This demonstrates that for these common operations there is significant variation in practice across England.

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Urology programme advocates for a "day-case by default" approach to TURBT and URS, and that day-case surgery should ideally be offered for prostate resection and enucleation. As well as reducing pressure on inpatient services, greater day-case adoption offers to reduce financial costs, shorten waiting lists by allowing greater access to day-case theatres away from the acute hospital, and reduce environmental impact by adopting a less resource-intensive approach. It also offers a more standardised patient experience.

National day-case rates for all of TURBT, TURP/TUEP and URS have increased over the past five years, however the wide variation in practice identifies a need to understand reasons underlying a significant observed divergence in practice. We want to understand why some hospitals have rapidly adopted day-case surgery whereas others have not. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand any positive and negative outcomes associated with the increased utilisation of day-case surgery. In order to explore this area we intend to perform qualitative research involving members of staff involved in the delivery of one or more of the operations of interest. We will interview staff from a range of different hospitals with differing day-case performances to further understand enablers and barriers associated with day-case adoption. We would also like to understand staff members' experiences of any wider unexpected outcomes associated with day-case surgery adoption.