BN O02 - Introducing the Cholecystectomy Urgency Index (CUI) – A novel way to visualise and optimise the waiting list for laparoscopic cholecystectomy at a large district general hospital

Abstract Background Gallstone disease effects approximately 10-15% of the adult population, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in the UK, with over 60,000 performed each year. Delays to surgery from diagnosis has been found to increase patient morbidity and readmission rate. Waiting lists in the UK have been struck with a significant backlog from the COVID-19 pandemic, and navigating this ever-expanding patient population to determine priority for booking cases is complex. We propose a new system to prioritise and visualise this cohort of patients in real time – the Cholecystectomy Urgency Index. Method At one large district general hospital, we had a waiting list of 148 patients for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We identified the individual underlying pathology and established the waiting time since diagnosis to allocation of operative date. We used excel to formulate a pairwise scatter plot of the waiting list patients based upon the time waiting. We were able then to colour code them based on pathology (biliary colic/cholecystitis/cholangitis/pancreatitis/obstructive jaundice). We were then able to link this directly to our scheduling to create a live, visual representation of our waiting list, by both days waited and causative pathology. Results We found our median wait times for patients varied based on pathology: Biliary Colic = 185 days, Cholecystitis = 57 days, Pancreatitis, Cholangitis and Obstructive Jaundice (OJ) = 65 days. We found that the pairwise scatter plot provided a rapidly accessible, easily identifiable visual representation of our patient cohort by both days waited and diagnosis. This allows relevant staff, surgeons and schedulers to plan elective cases according to both urgency and time waited. Long waiters are easily identified as outliers on the graph and can therefore be flagged for last minute cancellation slots. Conclusion By using this system, we can optimise our waiting lists, improve productivity and patient outcomes. We propose a system to enable this further when booking patients: to give them a colour coded CUI number of 1-3. 1 being biliary colic, 2 – cholecystitis, 3 – pancreatitis/cholangitis/OJ. This will be directly linked to our scatter graph and in doing so, provides us with a readily available, live snapshot in time of the current wait list. This system allows for both clinical urgency prioritisation and easy visualisation of patient cohorts, thus catalysing the elimination of long waiters by means of clear identification.