National survey of the provision of day surgery across public and private hospitals in Ireland.
BACKGROUND
Day surgery (DS) is viewed as the optimal environment for many surgical procedures. Yet, Irish DS rates are low compared to international figures.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the current provision of DS in Ireland and to identify barriers to its expansion.


METHODS
Thirty-seven public hospitals and 17 private hospitals providing DS were surveyed during July/August 2009.


RESULTS
Thirty-seven hospitals replied (67%) (30 public, 7 private). DS beds ranged from 3 to 39. Fourteen (38%) had dedicated DS units, and no unit had a consultant in charge. Twenty-one (57%) provided pre-assessment with 36 (96%) providing patient information leaflets both pre- and post-operatively. Stay-in rate was less than 5%. Eight units had reviewed the adverse event rates following DS. Seven barriers to optimizing DS were identified, the main one being lack of dedicated DS theatres.
Cowman
S
S
Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland.
Gethin
G
G
Mulligan
E
E
Ryan
K
K
Meshkat
B
B
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018579:Patient Selection; D013531:Surgicenters / Q000458:organization & administration
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