THE EFFECT OF A ‘RING FENCED’ ORTHOPAEDIC ARTHROPLASTY WARD ON LENGTH OF STAY AND SURGICAL SITE INFECTION

Abstract

Introduction: More than 140,000 joint replacements are carried out in England and Wales per annum costing from £4000 to £7000 each (1, 2). Implant costs are relatively fixed but there are considerable variations in length of stay [LOS] following surgery. The National Audit office estimated that a reduction of two days per patient could save the NHS £15.5 million per year (2).

A specialist orthopaedic ward for elective arthroplasty was opened in Bangor in 2008 in an attempt to address these issues. The staff per bed ratio remained the same as in the general orthopaedic wards but beds were “ring fenced” and strict infection control measures protocols were implemented. This audit aimed to assess the effect of the specialist ward on LOS following arthroplasty.

Method: Retrospective data on length of stay, demographics and surgical site infections [SSI] were collected for the six months before and six months after the specialist ward was opened. Only primary lower limb arthroplasty data was evaluated and LOS was calculated from day of operation to the day of discharge. Statistical analysis was performed on the length of stay with SPSS software using the two-sample t-test and Mann-Whitley U test.

Results: Patients were managed by the same surgical teams in the same theatres but nursed in different ward settings. Group 1 included 222 patients managed in general orthopaedic wards and group 2 included 191 patients, managed in the ring fenced ward. The mean age for total hip replacements was 70.8 in group 1 and 71.2 years in group 2. The mean age for total knee replacements was 70.9 years in group 1 and 69.2 years in group 2. The overall mean LOS for both procedures was 7.61 days (95% CI: 7.14 – 8.07) in group 1 compared with 5.67 days (95% CI: 5.28 – 6.06) group 2. This was statistically significant (p< 0.001). The mode was 7 days in group 1 compared with 4 days in group 2. Three SSIs were noted in group 1 and zero in group 2.

Conclusions: This audit demonstrates a two day reduction in LOS for patients managed in a ring fenced ward. The reasons for the reduction are multi factorial but include a trend for reduced SSI. Overall reduced stay frees up resources for other use and may reduce costs. Other units may benefit from similar dedicated wards in response to growing demand for arthroplasty within a system of fixed resources.