Does anyone know how much NHS operating rooms cost? A survey of operating room managers' knowledge of costs and data

Background/Aims Operating theatres represent a large proportion of NHS healthcare resources, so there has been focus on reducing costs in this area. This, in part, relies on managers having knowledge of the relevant costs in operating rooms. This study aimed to gauge the level of familiarity regarding costs among the various tiers of managers of NHS operating theatres, and if this information informed their decision making. Methods A semi-structured interview was administered to 12 finance managers, theatre managers and board members across 16 separate hospitals, representing six NHS trusts. Responses were reviewed through qualitative analysis by the authors. Findings The respondents showed very limited knowledge of operating theatre costs, with nearly all being unable to use cost data to inform either daily or longer-term strategic decision making. In particular, the costs of under- or over-running operating lists were not known. Conclusions The study suggests that heuristics of operating theatre management are, in practice, not influenced by costs. Instead, the resulting cost balance appears to be a passive consequence of decision-making based on other factors. This has significant implications for cost reduction initiatives and suggests an urgent need for improvement.

(Un)making a Monster: Melodrama, The Satirist, and the Cartoons of Samuel De Wilde

Our essay takes up the well-known satirical print, ‘The Monster Melo-Drame’, and re-attaches it to several contexts to bring forward its richness and ambiguity as an image. We begin by considering its artist (Samuel De Wilde), printer (Samuel Tipper), and publisher ( The Satirist), interpreting the print in its original publication and in dialogue with the essay that accompanied it in the January 1808 issue of the Satirist. The image, we argue, should not be read on its own but rather as the first of a trio of prints De Wilde made for that magazine. Taken together, the images show the Satirist engaging in a sustained campaign against London’s Theatres Royal, one in which melodrama is a subject but not a primary target. Part of our essay’s work is necessarily that of description: identifying figures, references, and tableaux as these prints comment on a rapidly changing theatrical scene between 1807 and 1809. Considered as a set, De Wilde’s prints constituted a fundamental part of the Satirist’s attacks on the Drury Lane Theatre management, particularly Richard Brinsley Sheridan and his son Thomas Sheridan, whom they represent as corrupt caretakers of that institution and of the national drama.

Application of Multi-Criteria Analysis on Theatres’ Efficiency – Czech and Polish Comparative Case Studies

Institutions (theatres) evaluated in this paper are mediators of an unrepeatable interpretive art and they need funds from public resources of different government levels to ensure their activities. The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the efficiency of theatre management of 93 evaluated public theatres in the Czech Republic and Poland through 11 indicators. The evaluated weights of chosen indicators were determined by the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), in combination with the chosen objective method for determining the importance of indicators. From the results it is evident that big multi-genre theatres producing more genres of interpretive art (drama, opera, ballet, musical) with a bigger number of employees had the worst results in both states.

On the Role of the Theatrical Agent in Operatic Circuits at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: The Case of the Eastern Adriatic Coast

The article examines the role of the theatrical agent in the operatic circuits of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on the eastern Adriatic coast in the light of his relations with theatre management, impresarios and fellow agents. There were many different types of theatrical agent involved in managing operatic seasons, and they had different working practices.

THEATRE MANAGEMENT INVESTIGATION OF FEMALE PROMISCUITY: PREGNANCY AND ABORTION IMPACT ON UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL THEATRES IN NIGERIA

This study investigates promiscuity impacts, pregnancy impacts and abortion impacts of female undergraduates on management of the University of Benin educational theatre program, with implications on general theatre practice including Muson and Nollywood, in Nigeria. There are widespread speculations that female undergraduate theatre students are promiscuous and therefore highly prone to pregnancies and abortions for reasons or factors not confirmed by research. At least no such specific extensive study has been carried out in the University of Benin Theatre on this topic. Yet many female students are branded and treated merely as ‘debased females and prospective prostitutes’, and do not enjoy the goodwill, support, respect and honor their counterparts in the social, basic and environmental sciences as well as other fields of academic studies enjoy. This would be tantamount to a great disservice and injustice that need to be urgently addressed if a rigorous academic inquiry proves otherwise. Not to mention the undiscovered negative impacts the problem may have had, or currently be having on the training and practice of theatre arts in Nigeria: hence this investigation. The methodology, the subjects of study and study sample were carefully and systematically determined. The findings are mostly positive regarding the negative behavior investigated. Hence the recommendations point to measures aimed at checking and restricting these vices as well as their impact to a minimum as well as towards improving the moral, academic and managerial framework of educational theatre programs in Nigeria.

389 General Surgery Operative Cancellations Within Aberdeen Royal Infirmary 2019

Introduction Operative cancellation rates can be up to 17.6%, resulting in delays to patient treatment and management. This audit was conducted to assess underlying reasons for operative cancellations with the aim to minimise cancellations in the future. Method A retrospective review of General surgery operative cancellations during 2019 at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary was undertaken. Data was obtained from Theatre Management. Results 28548 operations were performed across all surgical specialities during 2019 with 2664 operations cancelled. Within General Surgery, 447 were cancelled (182 emergency (40.7%), 265 electives (59.3%)). The most common reason was lack of theatre time for elective cases and procedure no longer needed for emergency cases. For cancelled elective surgeries, there was a median time of 29 days before being operated. Conclusions We highlight that both elective and emergency operations are susceptible to cancellation. There are clear differences in the reason of cancellation between elective and emergency. Going forward, it is worth discussing booking emergency operations with the on-call consultant to ensure they are necessary. Regarding elective operation cancellations due to lack of theatre time it would be imperative to assess the exact cause of this as to minimise operative cancellations. We plan re-audit once a departmental discussion has been made.

Insights into Classic Theatre Market Segments

Marketing segmentation is one of the key strategic elements in marketing planning that helps identifying key consumer groups and their characteristics and enables the adaptation of marketing strategies to different target consumers. The aim of this paper is paper aims to segment classic theatre audiences based on their attendance frequency and identify major socio-demographic characteristics of each segment. A self-completion questionnaire was developed upon analysis of previous studies and was distributed to the population in an area of about 50 km around Osijek. The research was conducted on a convenient sample, using an in-person method in two different intervals: in the first interval, research was conducted on young respondents (18-34), and in the second interval, research was conducted on adult respondents (age 35+). Altogether 1315 participants took part in the research. Statistical techniques of univariate analysis (frequency distribution and central tendency measures), ANOVA, and two-step cluster analysis were used.The results of the study have identified six classic theatre segments: young theatre friends, young theatre acquaintances, young theatre strangers, adult theatre friends, adult theatre acquaintances, adult theatre strangers. Each segment is described in detail by their geographic (distance from the venue), demographic (age, income, marital status, education, employment) and psychographic characteristics (social activities, free time spending, and informing gathering about classic theatre offer) characteristics. The research results emphasized the differences in classic theatre audiences, which calls for continuous market segmentation in order to ensure timely recognition of consumer trends and changes in preferences. This would enable theatre management to adapt and implement adequate marketing initiatives and strategies.

“Sardoodledom” on the English Stage: T. W. Robertson and the Assimilation of Well-Made Play into the English Theatre

The article discusses a vital figure in the development of modern English theatre, Thomas William Robertson, in the context of his borrowings, inspirations, translations and adaptations of the French dramatic formula pièce bien faite (well-made play). The paper gives the definition and enumerates features of the formula created with great success by the French dramatist Eugène Scribe. Presenting the figure of Thomas William Robertson, the father of theatre management and realism in Victorian theatre, the focus is placed on his adaptations of French plays and his incorporation of the formula of the well-made play and its conventional dramatic devices into his original, and most successful, plays, Society and Caste. The paper also examines the critical response to the well-made play in England and dramatists who use its formula, especially from the point of view of George Bernard Shaw, who famously called the French plays of Scribe and Victorien Sardou—“Sardoodledom.”

Computer Science in the Management of Operating Theatres: A Challenge for Sub-Saharan Anaesthetists and Resuscitation Medical Doctors

Introduction: Anesthetists and resuscitation doctors often coordinate the management of operating theaters. Information systems that are an importants tools for operating theatre management are not commonly used in Senegal. The objective of this study is to evaluate the contribution of computer sciences in improving the management and quality of care in the operating theatre. Material and Method: Prospective evaluation over one year of the quality of the standardized discharge summaries (anaesthetic and surgical protocols) provided by the SIMENS software based on the analysis of a Hospital Information System (HIS) use indicators: comprehensiveness, completeness, and validity. Results: The overall comprehensiveness on the use of the Information System (IS) in the Operative Room (OR) was 89%, the completeness of the fields was optimal in 96.6% of the cases for the operating protocols and in 80% of the cases for the anesthetic protocols. 64% of the anesthetic protocols were considered valid compared to 73.3% validity for the surgical protocols. Discussion/Conclusion: The computerization of operating theatres is a long-term process and will ultimately improve the quality of care by having an impact on quality management. Improving the indicators of practical use of an IS in the operating theatre (comprehensiveness, completeness and validity of RSS) requires good involvement of all actors of the theatre environment. The benefits of computerization would be more relevant once the services associated with the operating theatre (hospital services, stretcher-boarding, etc.) are connected to the computer system, but also by automating the input of information to be included in anaesthetic and surgical protocols.