REDUCING SAME-DAY SURGICAL CANCELLATIONS TO IMPROVE OPERATING ROOM UTILIZATION: A LEAN SIX SIGMA PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Background: The operating room stands among the most resource-intensive units within any hospital, and the way its time is used carries a direct weight on institutional revenue and on the flow of patients waiting for surgery. Same day cancellation of scheduled procedures wastes a slot that has already been reserved, leaves costly staff and consumables on standby, and pushes other patients further down an already long waiting list. Because a cancelled case is difficult to replace at short notice, hospitals treat the cancellation rate as a sensitive marker of theatre efficiency and patient experience. Lean thinking and Six Sigma methodology, joined together as Lean Six Sigma, offer a structured and data-driven route for identifying the true reasons behind these cancellations and for building corrective measures that hold over time.