• Understand the core goals of the Reforming Elective Care plan  
• Appreciate how patient experience, choice, and digital empowerment are central
• Explore what operational reform will look like in theatres and elective pathways

• Describe the evolving landscape of surgical safety through the lens of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and NatSSIPs2, and how these national frameworks can connect safety science with day-to-day practice
• Apply systems thinking and human factors principles to identify risks, strengthen teamwork, and design safer, more resilient surgical systems
• Evaluate how restorative just culture approaches can enhance staff wellbeing, learning, and improvement in perioperative settings
• Explore data-driven strategies for measuring safety culture and improvement impact
• Commit to practical next steps for embedding sustainable, learning-focused safety culture within their own surgical services and organisations

• How minimally invasive surgery is changing theatre demands
• The role of pre- and post-operative community pathways
• Improving turnover and reducing delays

• Understand the end-to-end surgical pathway and its impact on patient outcomes 
• Identify best-practice interventions that support safe and effective same-day surgery 
• Evaluate how pathway redesign can drive efficiency and capacity across surgical services

James Friend, Director of Digital Strategy, NHS England – London Region

Bruno Botelho, Director of Digital Operations and Innovation, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Ian Frost, Deputy Director, Innovation and Digital Transformation, South West London Integrated Care System

This panel will explore how London NHS is using digital tools and data-driven insights to improve operating theatre utilisation, patient flow and elective performance at scale. From the shift from analogue to digital pathways, including the use of the NHS App for pre-operative assessment and appointment management – to advanced data and intelligent operating room solutions supporting capacity management and on-the-day flow, panellists will share real-world lessons from implementation across busy acute systems. The discussion will focus on what has worked, the challenges encountered, and what other Trusts and systems can realistically replicate to drive sustainable theatre improvement.

• How precision perioperative medicine can predict and reduce complications
• Biomarkers, risk modelling and data-driven decision-making
• Personalised pathways to reduce length of stay

John Jeans, Practicing Consultant Anaesthetist and National Lead, the National CLEAR Programme, 33n

Toni Bell, Lead Preoperative Assessment Nurse, East Lancashire Teaching Hospital

• Understand how clinically led, data-driven approaches can be applied to redesign pre-operative pathways to improve theatre utilisation and patient flow

• Explore the role of AI and digital tools in pre-operative assessment, risk stratification, scheduling and capacity planning

• Identify practical ways to engage clinicians in pre-op service redesign while addressing workforce pressures and variability in demand  
  
  

• Identify why many digital pilots fail to scale in theatre environments and how to avoid common pitfalls

• Learn how trusts can evaluate, govern and scale digital innovations while maintaining patient safety and clinical confidence

• Understand the role of clinical leadership in bridging innovation, informatics and frontline delivery