30 May 2025
The Trust which runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals is trialling a new way of working to reduce the time patients are waiting for routine surgery.
A High Intensity Theatre (HIT) list was carried out to safely treat more patients waiting for a hernia operation. These procedures are planned and can be carried out on the same day.
HIT lists focus on one type of procedure at a time, allowing for streamlined preparation, and maximising the number of patients being treated in one day.
A multi-disciplinary team from The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust completed 11 hernia operations in a single day – the usual maximum on a standard list is six.
The team, which included surgical, anaesthetics, pre-op assessment and administrative staff, performed so efficiently, they called in an extra patient who was on standby.
The HIT list was led by Mr Saurav Chakravartty, Consultant Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon, and took place on a weekday in the Planned Care Hub at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, with other theatre lists continuing as normal.
Mr Chakravartty said: “The HIT list involved considerable careful planning to see where we could streamline processes to make more time for the surgeon to operate. It showcased the ability of our staff to work together to deliver high quality care with a high level of efficiency and productivity.
“We operated safely within our usual resources, with one additional nurse, and we delivered what I believe to be the highest number of hernia cases in a single day within the Trust.”
Dr John Jones, Medical Director, said: “This is a fantastic achievement by our teams and a huge amount of work went into making this HIT list a success on the day.
“We hope it is the stepping stone to develop more HIT lists in the future to reduce the time patients are waiting for the procedures they need.”
The procedure carried out was routine for patients with a hernia. Of the 11 patients, all went home the same day.