AI System for Checking Operating Theatre Material Readiness

The problem

In day-to-day operations, missing preparation may only be noticed shortly before the scheduled case. When the case plan, approved list, stock, sterilisation and alternative-set records are scattered across different screens, documents or team records, problems do not become visible in time.

Fragmented data delays preparation of the readiness check report and forces staff to search manually for supporting evidence again. Before making a decision, the operating theatre lead nurse and clinical team have to complete missing fields and verify inconsistencies one by one.

A common exception is that a different set approved by the clinician may be used for the case. Incomplete or incorrect automation that overlooks this context could flag a suitable set as incomplete or treat an incomplete set as ready, so the output cannot be applied directly.

What we set out to improve

• Number of confirmed missing-material alerts
• Rate of outputs corrected or rejected by the operating theatre lead nurse and clinical team
• Time between the source record and the review output

How the system works

1. 01 Define the scope of the review and the authorised operating theatre lead nurse and clinical team roles
2. 02 Collect the inputs: case plan, approved list, stock, sterilisation and alternative-set records
3. 03 Check source identity, date, version and data freshness
4. 04 Select the current approved list
5. 05 Check stock, batch and sterilisation records
6. 06 Check the exception: a different set approved by the clinician may be used for the case
7. 07 Place low-confidence or inconsistent records in a separate human review queue
8. 08 Write the source identity, rule, output and time to the audit trail
9. 09 Have the operating theatre lead nurse and clinical team approve, correct, defer or reject the output

Methods we used

• Matching against the approved checklist
• Source, format, version and required-field checks for the case plan, approved list, stock, sterilisation and alternative-set records
• A missing-data warning instead of an estimate when inputs are missing or inconsistent
• Checking exceptions separately from the main rule
• Storing the source identity, rule result, readiness check report and human decision together

Where people stay involved

Data and security

Access to the case plan, approved list, stock, sterilisation and alternative-set records is limited to the minimum permissions required for each role. Identifiers and sensitive fields are masked where possible, and only the necessary section is sent to the model rather than the entire raw file. Access, outputs and decisions by the operating theatre lead nurse and clinical team are recorded; the system does not enter production until the organisation has approved the retention period and data location.

Who this suits

Frequently asked questions