Equipping an operating theatre: the process, step by step

Equipping an operating theatre is not just a matter of choosing an anaesthesia workstation and a surgical light from a catalogue. It is a project that involves the building work in the room, the medical gas and electrical networks, the teams who will use the equipment and those who will maintain it. The equipment families are presented on the operating theatre page; this article focuses on the process: the order in which to decide, who to coordinate with, and how to run the project from the quote request through to commissioning.

Start from the specialties and the activity

An operating room is designed for what will be done in it. The specialties practised determine the table and its accessories, the type of lighting, and the number of power outlets and gas outlets to bring as close as possible to the team. The volume of activity, for its part, guides the number of rooms to equip and the level of redundancy required. Before comparing any equipment, it is worth gathering this information from the surgeons, the anaesthesiologists and the theatre manager.

• The specialties practised in each room, and those that may be added.
• The patients treated: adults, children, newborns.
• The number of rooms to equip, and whether they must be interchangeable.
• What already exists: rooms in use, equipment to keep, medical gas and electrical networks.

Decide in the right order

Not all equipment families are decided at the same time. Some are fixed to the ceiling and depend on the structural work; others are mobile and can be settled later. Following this order avoids discovering, once the room is finished, that a piece of equipment can no longer be installed as planned.

• Ceiling pendants and surgical lights first: their layout is planned with the building work in the room, as it depends on the ceiling structure and on how the networks are routed.
• The operating table next, chosen according to the specialties and positioned consistently with the lighting and the pendants.
• The anaesthesia workstation, whose location takes into account the gas outlets and the anaesthesiologist's working space.
• Patient monitoring, infusion and the defibrillator, which complete the anaesthesia station and the room's equipment.

The criteria to examine for lighting are detailed in the article on the LED surgical light; those for the anaesthesia station, in the article on choosing an anaesthesia workstation.

Coordinate with medical gases and electrical supply

Ceiling pendants bring medical gases, electricity and data as close as possible to the team; they only fulfil this role if the building's networks reach the right place. The equipment project and the building project are therefore run together, with the facility's technical services and the contractors responsible for medical gases and electrical work.

• The number and type of medical gas outlets required at each position, and their compatibility with the planned equipment.
• The electrical supply requirements of the equipment, and which items must remain powered in the event of an outage.
• Data routing to the facility's network, if the monitors are to be connected to a central monitoring station.
• The ceiling structure, which must be able to take the pendants and surgical lights at the planned location.

Aim for a consistent equipment fleet

An operating theatre fitted with disparate equipment multiplies the interfaces to learn, the accessories to stock and the maintenance procedures. Conversely, a consistent fleet simplifies both staff training and maintenance: the same actions from one station to the next, shared accessories and consumables, centralised documentation and spare parts. This consistency is considered at the level of the operating theatre, or even the whole facility, taking into account the equipment already in service in the other rooms and in intensive care.

It also has a clinical benefit: an anaesthesiologist who moves to another room finds the same station, the same alarms and the same presentation of parameters. It is a criterion to formalise in the specifications from the outset, rather than to observe after the fact.

Prepare the quote request and the specifications

Once the families and quantities have been settled, the quote request is best presented by room and by equipment family. It restates the context, that is the specialties, the existing installation and the site constraints, so that the offers received meet the same need and can be compared.

• A description of each room: specialties, patients treated, equipment to keep.
• The quantities per family, and the division into lots if several families are being purchased.
• The minimum specifications, expressed as measurable criteria rather than copied from a brochure.
• The accessories and consumables to include.
• Expectations regarding installation, commissioning, training and after-sales service.

Manufacturers' datasheets can be downloaded from the product pages of the catalogue, and the quote page lets you select several items of equipment to have them priced together.

Acceptance and commissioning

Delivery does not close the project. Acceptance consists of checking that what has been delivered matches what was ordered, then that each item of equipment works in the room, connected to its networks. Commissioning is the moment the equipment passes into the hands of the teams: it needs as much preparation as the purchase.

• Checking the delivery: equipment, accessories, consumables and documentation, against the order.
• On-site testing, once the pendants, the lighting and the equipment are connected.
• Training for users and biomedical technicians before the first surgical procedure.
• Handover of the manuals, the datasheets and the after-sales service contact details.
• Registration of the equipment in the facility's inventory, to organise preventive maintenance.

In summary

A well-equipped operating theatre is the result of an orderly process: start from the activity, first decide on what depends on the building work, coordinate the equipment with medical gases and electrical supply, seek a consistent fleet, then prepare a precise quote request and well-managed commissioning. Each step builds on the previous one; skipping one is often paid for later, in rework or in under-used equipment.