WP6.1 - A survey of the estimated cost of surgical consumable items within Ear, Nose, Throat departments

Abstract Aims Studies suggest that practitioners lack knowledge on cost of consumables and fail to appreciate the financial consequences of waste. We aimed to investigate this claim amongst ENT practitioners. Methods An online questionnaire, requiring cost estimations for 20 consumable items, was distributed to London ENT departments. Each item’s actual cost was compared with the average, median and interquartile range of the estimated price. An estimate was deemed ‘correct’ if it was within 20% of the actual price. Results 10.65% of all estimations were ‘correct’. There was no correlation between job role and cost-estimation accuracy. The most accurately estimated item was ‘fenestrated sterile drape’ (24.4%), the least was ‘1L bag of IV normal saline’ and ‘package of sterile sponges’ (0%). Conclusions We found poor cost appreciation of consumables amongst ENT surgeons. This could serve as a catalyst for the inclusion of health economics in specialty training curricula, improving cost-awareness.