Concentration and the variability of orthopaedic demand

J Bowers and G Mould ()
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J Bowers: University of Stirling
G Mould: University of Stirling

Journal of the Operational Research Society, 2002, vol. 53, issue 2, 203-210

Abstract: Abstract Concentrating health services with centres providing selected, specialist care offers a number of potential advantages. The benefits may include the opportunity to improve the quality of care by providing more specialist services and greater expertise, more attractive working conditions with a larger pool of specialists providing the on-call rota and an enhanced opportunity for training. Concentration will produce greater volumes of patients in the selected specialties with the possibility of various economies of scale. A series of simulation experiments explored the potential for efficiencies associated with the increasing volume of non-elective patients in an orthopaedic specialty. As the annual volume of patients increases so the relative variability of the demand for operating theatre time declines: concentrating non-elective orthopaedic activity could offer considerable savings in the theatre time allocated to trauma patients. However, the impact on the wards is much less significant, with concentration having a negligible effect on the requirement for beds.

Keywords: health; simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601272

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