Theatre Insourcing Cuts Long Waits by 54%

The Medacs team quickly integrated into our department, working professionally and helping to facilitate procedures for patients waiting for a very long time. A pleasure to work with, many thanks for all your support.

Department of Neurology

Background

As the successful bidder for a new high-volume theatre insourcing tender via the NHS Scotland DPS system (NP67622), Medacs has delivered high volume insourcing support across multiple hospital sites for a large health board in Scotland. 

The requirement was substantial, with a need to consistently resource at scale, with a minimum of 50 WTE Specialist Theatre Nurses and 7 WTE Anaesthetists required per day to support in-week and weekend sessions across ten surgical specialties.   

The Approach

Medacs was well-positioned to support, drawing on well-established operations in Scotland and access to a broad, high‑quality network of clinicians. Intensive induction programmes began in October 2025 for a large cohort of 20 Anaesthetists and 60 Theatre Nurses and ODPs, many with highly specialist skillsets (e.g. Specialist Neurosurgical Nurses). Inductions included onsite orientations and systems training, with Medacs teams seamlessly integrated to work alongside experienced NHS staff. 

Capacity levels were assured with surplus cover built-in, and dependable support 24-7 to coordinate and resource sessions across eight hospital sites, seven days a week. Despite the scale and complexity of multi-site delivery, coordination was tightly managed with frequent communication, onsite operational oversight, and rigorous clinical governance protocols.

Results

Over nine months, Medacs specialist teams resourced over 1300 theatre sessions across ten different specialties including Orthopaedics, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, General Surgery, Ophthalmology, Urology, Neurology, ENT & Plastics. This enabled treatment for more than 2,400 patients, with a clear focus on those waiting longest, in line with clinical prioritisation criteria. 

During this period, with Medacs teams consistently supporting the delivery of extra daycase theatre sessions, national reporting dashboards demonstrated a 54% reduction in patients waiting over a year for the health board, alongside a 15% increase in overall elective activity.