Abstract
With the growing demand on endoscopic resources, achieving optimal efficiency has assumed increasing importance. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of performing gastro logy and pulmonary procedures in the common endoscopy unit in a large tertiary care hospital. Data were prospectively recorded for 112 procedures /patients: 96 gastro logy procedures and 16 pulmonary procedures. The most common procedure was upper gi endoscopy (41.1).Overall, procedures for 24/64 or 37.4% of the patients coming to room 1 were delayed (>=15 minutes between procedures), because the physician was not available to start the procedure or delay in transfer the patient to post procedure room . The time elapsed between procedures was >=30 minutes for 12 of the 24 delayed procedures (50%). Time and motion study revealed that 57 procedures were performed/week, with patients spending 135.5 min or 2hr 15 min at the endoscopy centre.