Short Stay Protocol For Shoulder Replacement

Professor W A Wallace, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Nottingham City Hospital, UK
Presented at: International Shoulder Symposium - Leysin, Switzerland - 4-5 March 2005

With the increasing emphasis on high throughput and cost-efficient use of hospital beds we have developed a system for bringing down the hospital stay for Shoulder Replacement patients to 3 days. This system depends on clearly delineating the “Patient Pathway” and then working out the most efficient way for the patient get from the start of treatment to the end.

Figure 1 – The Patient Pathway in the UK for Patients with Shoulder Pain

Each of the steps is now addressed in the pathway to ensure a smooth transition from one to the other and for the surgical route (in yellow) the steps can be made much easier if the patient is aware of exactly what will be happening to them.

In the UK it is now acknowledged that providing patient information is a very necessary part of the whole treatment package and funding has been specifically set aside for purchasing this sort of material where it is justified. We anticipate obtaining feedback from our patients in 2005 on how useful they have found it for their hospital stay and rehabilitation.