Is it Financially Efficient to Lose the Ring-Fenced Elective Orthopaedic Ward?

Background In an effort to rationalize National Health Service (NHS) funds in the United Kingdom, some hospitals have used the orthopaedic elective ring-fenced ward to admit general acute emergencies, admitting elective arthroplasty patients to general wards. Objective The aim of this study was to a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied health economics and health policy 2013-04, Vol.11 (2), p.151-154
Main Authors: Soler, J. Agustin, Manjure, Sanjiv, Kalairajah, Yegappan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip - economics
Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee - economics
Cost analysis
Cost control
Disease control
Efficiency
Elective Surgical Procedures - economics
Female
Health Administration
Health care industry
Health Economics
Health services
Hospitals
Humans
Joint replacement surgery
Joint surgery
Length of stay
Length of Stay - economics
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Nursing
Occupational therapy
Orthopedics
Orthopedics - economics
Orthopedics - organization & administration
Patient satisfaction
Patients' Rooms - economics
Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes
Physical therapy
Public Health
Quality of Life Research
Research Letter
Retrospective Studies
Staphylococcus infections
State Medicine - economics
State Medicine - organization & administration
Studies
United Kingdom
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Summary:Background In an effort to rationalize National Health Service (NHS) funds in the United Kingdom, some hospitals have used the orthopaedic elective ring-fenced ward to admit general acute emergencies, admitting elective arthroplasty patients to general wards. Objective The aim of this study was to analyse the financial effect and length of stay of elective arthroplasty patients admitted to general wards rather than ‘ring-fenced’ orthopaedic wards. Study Design Retrospective observational study Setting Hospital care Patients During the period between 01 November 2010 and 31 March 2011, 194 consecutive patients were admitted for elective total hip and total knee arthroplasties. Due to increased bed pressures, 35 (18.04 %) of the patients were admitted to general wards instead of our standard elective ring-fenced orthopaedic ward. Data was collected and analysed for type of surgery, age, sex, length of stay, and ward. Results The average length of stay in the general wards was 1.89 days longer (range 3–22 days; p  
ISSN:1175-5652
1179-1896
DOI:10.1007/s40258-013-0018-0