CATARACT SURGERY CENTRES
Operating Theatre Utilisation for a Cataract Surgery Centre
The surgeon is ready at eight, but two patients have not eaten correctly, one family is still deciding which lens to choose, and the first case starts at nine thirty. By evening the theatre has done fewer cases than it could have.
We look at the working of the centre: theatre scheduling, counsellor routines, pre-operative checks, lens and consumable stock, billing and follow-up. The surgical decisions, lens advice and infection protocols stay with your surgeons and the regulator, and we do not advise on them.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01The operating list is built the evening before, then changes through the morning as patients arrive late or families ask for more time, and the theatre sits idle between cases.
- 02Families decide together, but the counsellor often speaks only to the patient, so the lens choice and total cost are argued over at the last moment.
- 03Intraocular lenses of several types and powers are stocked on rough guesses, and the owner finds a missing power only when a case is booked.
- 04Camp patients on subsidised rates and paying patients share the same theatre, yet nobody tracks the cost of each or how many camp patients return.
- 05Follow-up visits after surgery are missed, and the centre has no list showing which patients have not come back for review.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01Cases done per theatre session against cases booked, and the reasons for each gap
- 02Minutes lost between cases, recorded by the theatre nurse on a simple sheet
- 03A family counselling format that covers choices and total estimate with the decision-makers present
- 04Lens inventory by type and power, with a reorder level and one person who counts weekly
- 05Pre-operative checklist completion, tracked for each patient before the morning list is finalised
- 06Cost per case for paying and camp patients, using the same method for both
- 07A follow-up register with the due date for each post-operative visit and a name against each call
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- Record start and end times for every case on one operating day. Add up the minutes between cases. Show the nurses and surgeon the total and ask what caused the longest gaps.
- Hypothetical example: if each session handles eight cases and a minute-by-minute record shows twenty-five minutes lost per gap, seven gaps cost nearly three hours. Count your own gaps.
- Sit in on three counselling conversations. Note who in the family was present and who was not. Ask the counsellor what happens when the decision-maker is absent.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A theatre-day plan that fixes the order of cases, the cut-off time for pre-operative checks and the buffer slot
- A one-page estimate sheet and counselling flow that your counsellor uses with the whole family
- A lens and consumable stock sheet with reorder levels filled in from your own usage
- A follow-up tracker with weekly review by the administrator
Not the right fit when: Leave this until a clinical complication review, infection-control concern or regulatory notice has been handled by qualified professionals. A centre without a settled surgeon roster should fix that first.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
