Today’s Wednesday Blog looks at how to effectively plan an operating list and offers thoughts on how to approach this interview station.

Depending on your role in the trauma team you may well be experienced at organising an operating list for the following day. In many departments trauma sisters and consultants take more of a lead however it is important that registrars are able to effectively prioritise and organise a list to ensure patients are optimised and operated on in a safe and timely fashion.

The list planning station is combined with the presentation station and candidates will be presented with patients and a scenario requiring them to organise a theatre list.

How To Prepare

• Look through your MRCS notes and books. These help to cover the basics including which patients should be put on the list first, whether diathermy should be used etc.
• Take an active role between now and the interview in planning lists when on call focussing on the pitfalls that slow or alter lists.

The Basics
At it’s most basic planning a list comes down to patient factors and resources.

Patient factors might include things like urgency of surgery, age of patient, diabetics, infected cases, latex allergies. Clearly life or limb-threatening cases should take priority. Children are often placed on lists first to avoid starving them though this is not a definitive rule.

Resources might include factors such as the skill-level of the operating surgeon, the availability of image intensifier, the availability of necessary kit, the need for an assistant, hip fracture tariffs and the operative time.

More Complicated Scenarios
While MRCS list planning is relatively straight forward with a handful of cases covering pacemakers, infections, children, diabetics and emergencies ST3 orthopaedic interview scenarios could be made more complicated by adding multiple theatres running in parallel, lack of required kit and angry patients.

Approaching The Station
The station is combined with the Presentation and so lasts just 7:30mins. Stay calm and carefully read the information and list of patients. Not everyone may be able to have their operation today and you should use practical examples from work to help illustrate your explanation.
There will be a best answer but it is not necessary to match this provided your explanation is sensible, safe and comprehensive. Think about what you would do in work.

Further Info:
For further info and examples of list planning exercises ands questions be sure to sign up to the Question Bank.