title: Simulation of a hospital's theatre suite.
abstract: Describes a study of sex operating theatres in a modern hospital where management was concerned about the throughput of the system. Senior medical staff were of the opinion that insufficient recovery spaces had been provided when the suite of theatres had been built which, if correct, was a physical constraint requiring considerable financial investment to remedy. They also thought that shortage of porters (¿You can never find a porter when you need one!¿) and recovery nurses were current operational problems. The relationship issues encountered when interfacing with the staff involved, the collection and analyses of relevant data and the building of a visual interactive simulation model are described.
authors.affiliation: University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: McAleer
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lismore
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Naqvi
mesh_terms: D000776:Anesthesiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003625:Data Collection; D013502:General Surgery; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000458:organization & administration; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008330:Management Audit; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009873:Operating Rooms / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010354:Patient Escort Service; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011997:Recovery Room / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012107:Research Design; D013597:Systems Analysis; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D006113:United Kingdom