Provision of A New Management Plan for Reducing Cancellation of Elective Surgery at Ghamra Military Hospital

Background: The cancellation of elective surgical procedures poses a significant challenge within healthcare facilities, leading to increased burdens on hospitals and distress for patient their families. Aim: To improve services, enhance quality of care, and improve of operating room management by assessing and implementing a new policy to reduce cancellation rates. Patients and methods: This intervention study employed a pretest-posttest design and was conducted on all canceled cases in four departments: General Surgery, Gynecology, ENT, and Pediatric Surgery. Additionally, a questionnaire was distributed to physicians and nurses to identify the causes of cancellations, while satisfaction questionnaire was administered to 84 patients. The study placed at Ghamra Hospital for 12 months. Results: The causes of cancellation related to operation were frequented “often or sometimes” by 50% due to patients did not show up, 65% due to refusal to sign the consent,57.5% due to the patients uncompliant to preoperative preparations, 50% due to uncontrolled hypertension or blood glucose level, 65% due to no available blood group, 60% due to lack of resources and drugs,77.5% due to lengthy of different operation,70% due to emergency operations, 67.5% due to operation theatre unavailability,72.5%due to missing of members of team work, 62.5% due to failure of electricity or equipment’s or gas station. Conclusion: The overall cancellation rate was found to be 9.74%, exceeding the standard benchmark of less than 5%. Among the various departments, pediatric surgery and ENT departments exhibited the highest cancellation rates, primarily due to upper respiratory tract infections and overloaded schedules.