In collaboration with the RCSI Department of Surgery and the Health Service Executive, the Institute of Leadership hosted a second training workshop on 'The Productive Operating Theatre'.

Staff from Sligo General Hospital, Waterford Regional Hospital, Wexford Hospital Hospital and Mater Misericordiae Hospital attended the programme.

The programme was designed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement to enable hospitals to improve patients' experience and to optimise the outcomes of care. The programme has three main goals:

• To increase the safety and reliability of care
• To to improve team performance and staff well-being
• To add value and improve efficiency.

The programme, which uses the principles of team-working and process improvement, is designed for senior management and clinical staff including consultant surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre nurses, managers and operating department practitioners.

Professor Frank Keane, Department of Surgical Affairs at RCSI, who leads the Elective Surgical Programme, which is part of the National Clinical Programme, attended and later said: "I found the course hugely beneficial particularly as the surgical programme is looking at the patient journey from the time they go onto the list until discharge. The theatre journey is an essential component of this, and patient safety and satisfaction must be optimised. The programme gives the team a process to drive improvement."

Professor Ciaran O'Boyle, Director of Institute of leadership, said: "This programme is particularly valuable as it is evidence-based and integrates modern human factors concepts into the management of complex and challenging operating theatre environments."