Impact of the Federated Data Platform's digital surgery scheduling system on elective theatre utilisation at an NHS Trust: an interrupted time series analysis.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the National Health Service (NHS) Federated Data Platform (FDP) Inpatient (IP) Care Coordination Solution (CCS) digital scheduling tool on elective theatre utilisation.

Methods: An interrupted time series assessed changes in theatre utilisation and cancellations following tool adoption (January 2022). Weekly data spanned 90 weeks (April 2021-December 2023). Outcomes included weekly median theatre utilisation (actual, booked and bookings per session) and the percentage of cancelled bookings. Models incorporated a 5-week lag and estimated level (step-change) and trend (slope) effects.

Results: Postintervention level and trend increases were observed for booked (β=4.40, p=0.045; β=0.26, p=0.002) and actual (β=3.98, p=0.064; β=0.23, p=0.006) utilisation. Bookings per session showed a significant level increase (β=0.34, p=0.002) with no trend change (β=0.00, p=0.790). Across the postintervention period, compared with counterfactual estimates, booked and actual utilisation were 15.0% (95% CI 13.4% to 16.5%, p<0.0001) and 12.2% (95% CI 10.8% to 13.5%, p<0.0001) higher, while bookings per session were 10.9% (95% CI 9.5% to 12.4%, p<0.0001) higher. Significant positive effects were observed for urology, general surgery, gynaecology, plastic surgery and ophthalmology. A significant upward trend in cancellation rates was associated with the introduction of the tool (β=2.1, p=0.001).

Discussion: Findings suggest that centralised digital scheduling tools can improve theatre capacity by enabling more efficient use of existing capacity through improved scheduling visibility. Future research should explore differences in specialty-level usage and long-term sustainability of gains.

Conclusion: The introduction of the NHS FDP IP CCS product was associated with improved elective theatre utilisation.