Enhanced Recovery Programme (ERP)

At the Countess of Chester Hospital we are committed to delivering  an enhanced recovery programme (ERP) for your surgery.

The enhanced recovery programme is about improving patient outcomes (such as how well the surgery went and how good your hospital experience is) and speeding up a patient's recovery after surgery, so you don't have to stay in hospital as long and can recover to your normal activities more quickly.

The individual elements of ERP are not particularly novel having been introduced in Denmark  almost 30 years ago, and many of these principles have  already been introduced  by many clinicians on many patients. The  central aim of the Countess  ERP is to ensure improved reliability of processes so that every patient receives all elements of best practice.

The programme at The Countess focuses on making sure that patients are active participants in their own recovery process. It also aims to ensure that patients always receive evidence-based care at the right time.

There are four main elements to the enhanced recovery programme:

• Pre-operative assessment, including planning and preparation before patients are admitted to hospital.
• Reducing the physical stress of the operation.
• A structured approach to immediate post-operative and during (peri-operative) management, including pain relief.
• Early mobilisation (moving around sooner after surgery) and nutrition (eating and drinking normal food).

This approach was originally successfully piloted in colorectal surgery. It is now being implemented for gynaecology, hip and knee replacements, breast surgery as well as urology.

Summary: what ERP is and is not

ERP is not new and revolutionary. ERP is not about treating healthcare like a production line, taking short cuts or discharging patients early whether they are ready or not.

ERP is about ensuring best practice is offered to all patients by all specialties in a collaborative manner. ERP puts you  the patient at the centre of your care.

 ERP ensures processes are consistent and reliable with the aim of enabling you  torecover from your  surgery quicker so you need to spend less time in hospital and are able to return to your normal activities more quickly.