Mapping Information of Operating Theatre Waiting List Process

Abstract

An operating theatre waiting list (OTWL) is a list that patients are enrolled in once they opt to pursue an elective procedure, assuming they cannot get this procedure performed immediately (Chua 2005). Operating Theatre Waiting Lists are of great concern in society nowadays because of their societal and political priority, their link to the quality of individual patients’ life, relation to the economic management of operating theatres and management of patient flow through the hospital and distribution of scarce medical resources (Al-Hakim & Fitzgerald 2003; Foote, North & Houston 2004; NSW Health 2002). They are used by politicians as measures of success or otherwise of government action on the health services.