• New scheduling system helps Royal Bolton Hospital to reduce theatre cancellations to zero
• Theatre staff now receive staffing allocations with eight weeks’ notice, improving work/life balance
• Reduction in cancellations means patients get access to care and treatment sooner

A new system has helped Royal Bolton Hospital to dramatically reduce its theatre cancellations to zero in another step towards tackling long waits for care and treatment.

Our Trust Theatre teams implemented a digital scheduling system, Allocate ActivityManager by RLDatix, as a pilot in July 2022 to allow for more effective scheduling and reduce the number of theatre lists being cancelled.

Workforce allocations had previously been recorded using pencil and paper, and the Trust had between three and five theatre lists being cancelled each month due to theatre staffing.

The new system allows the Trust to provide theatre staffing lists with eight weeks’ notice, instead of two.

Kris Booth, Matron in Main Theatres at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

Within the first twenty-four hours of introducing the system both staff and patients were starting to feel the benefits, and it’s a testament to the enthusiasm of staff to embrace this change that we saw zero theatre cancellations in the first twelve months.

89% of staff surveyed following the rollout agreed or strongly agreed that having the roster further in advance has improved their work/life balance.

Kris added:

We know that not having more than two weeks’ notice had an impact on engagement and staff wellbeing as staff were not able to plan their work days in advance and ensure a good work life balance.

“This new system means we’re now able to see far more clearly in advance what our staff availability is, which is helping us to make sure our patients are getting access the care and treatment they need much sooner.

The change in system has unlocked operational and costs benefits with more accurate and robust recruitment to meet demand and a reduction in agency spending.

David Mulligan, Head of Workforce Systems at the Trust, said:

Agency spend is down hugely, thanks to multiple contributory factors across the Trust. Where Allocate ActivityManager has supported us, is by helping to ensure that when we do go out to agency, it’s because we know we definitely need someone to fill a specific activity, in a specific location and we are confident that the theatre session is definitely going to go ahead.

“We can now more flexibly use our own staff to cover gaps.

We have started projects to expand the platform’s use to day case theatres, ophthalmology, pharmacy and podiatry.