Benefits of the Smart Theatres Project

The approach and results of the initial 2 theatre pilot have been independently validated by an academic and industry partnership (AIP) group. The targeted and achieved benefits are summarised below:

1. Sustainability: Reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint. Live energy data from 11 theatres confirms that energy reductions are in line with forecasts. The clinical staff productivity and patient care benefits, in addition to greater efficiency of estates staff, cannot be quantified until all theatres have been implemented and comprehensive volumes of data are collected and analysed.
2. Improve the patient experience and clinical staff productivity: These cannot be accurately quantified until sufficient volumes of data are collected from 31 theatres. However, we are confident that a minimum of 50% of the forecast will be achieved as set out in our business case.
3. Estates and facilities management: Improve productivity and efficiency through predictive maintenance, identifying and fixing before an issue occurs. Adequate volumes of data and the use of AI will be needed to measure the impact. However we are confident in achieving a minimum of 50% of forecast benefits as set out in our business case.
4. Reduce infection rates and patient length of stay: To free up more beds and increase the number of operations per day.

It should be noted that the productivity benefits are estimated and will be measured once full roll-out is completed and sufficient data volumes are available. The return on investment for 31 operating theatres is 18 months, based upon energy savings alone.

The total targeted cost saving is estimated to be £1,494,000 per year.

Improved patient care (£230,000 per year)

Cost savings attributed to:

• reduced delays or cancellations due to operating theatre environment not within recommended guidelines, such as theatre too cold or air changes per hour too low
• improved operating theatre availability - fewer incidents, incidents resolved quicker, reduced staff downtime/improved productivity
• lower infection rates potentially due to operating theatre environment not within recommended guidelines - for example, air quality, CO₂, or humidity levels too high

Improved estates and facilities management productivity (£726,000 per year)

Cost savings attributed to:

• workflow optimisation/automation
• culture change from reactive to predictive - activity is planned and scheduled rather than a reaction to an incident
• increase theatre availability, uptime and asset performance
• accurate problem identification - all key data available in one place
• the ability to assign the right resource, at the right time, for the right task 
• reduced interventions and doubling up on interventions in proximity
• better wayfinding and localisation of incident
• reduced maintenance backlog
• improved compliance 

Reduced energy consumption (£538,000 per year)

Cost savings attributed to:

• placing the theatre in standby mode when not in use
• smart sockets and smart lighting
• more efficient air handling unit performance
• reduction in scope 3 emissions (those not produced by the hospital itself) - including reduced travel from introducing remote intervention for assets, and reduction in supply chain emissions from increased asset lifetime