Day Surgery Unit completes record number of pain procedures in a day
The Day Surgery Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital completed its first ever High Intensity Theatres (HIT) list. The team completed a staggering 33 pain procedures on one single day earlier this month – 60% more than the usual 20 – and helped treat more patients suffering from debilitating pain.
This was the first time a team at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has undertaken a HIT list programme. Two surgeons, Dr Tauheed Shaikh and Dr Samaresh Das, led teams in two operating theatres focused entirely on patients requiring pain procedures.
The procedures performed on the day included nerve-route blocks and trigger point injections, where local anaesthetic and steroid is given to relieve pain and reduce inflammation. These help patients who suffer with debilitating pain from a variety of conditions, sometimes to the point of not being able to work or go about their day as they normally would.
Chief Executive Neil Macdonald said: “This has been a fantastic achievement by our day surgery unit. They achieved an astounding increase in the number of pain procedures they completed in just one 8-hour period, which proves just how capable and committed they are to making a difference to our patients here in Buckinghamshire.”
The Trust is looking to roll HIT out to other services in the coming months, just one of the many ways in which the organisation is endeavouring to reduce waiting times for patients.