The Annual Operating Theatres Show 2026
Etihad Stadium, Manchester 10 September 2026, 9:00am - 4:30pm
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8:30am
Registration & Networking
9:30am
Chairs Opening Remarks
Mark Rigby, Head of Theatre Services, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
9:40am
Delivering Elective Recovery: The National Direction for Operating Theatres
- Understand national NHS priorities for elective recovery and theatre utilisation
- Explore how surgical hubs are reshaping operating theatre delivery
- Identify expectations for trusts around productivity, access and patient outcomes
Ian Eardley, National Clinical Director for Elective Care, NHS England
10:00am
Life Inside a Surgical Hub: Delivering High-Volume Elective Care
This session will explore the real-world experience of operating surgical hubs across the NHS. Members will discuss implementation challenges, workforce adaptation, theatre scheduling, patient flow, and lessons learned from scaling elective care delivery. The discussion will focus on practical insights trusts can apply when developing or expanding hub models.
10:20am
Speaking Session Reserved for Hartmann
10:40am
Question & Answers Session
11:00am
Break & Networking
11:30am
The Perioperative Pathway: Improving Outcomes Beyond the Operating Theatre
- Understand the role of perioperative care in improving surgical outcomes
- Explore multidisciplinary approaches to patient optimisation
- Identify strategies to reduce complications and length of stay
Professor Javed Sultan, Deputy Director, CPOC
11:50am
Overcoming Barriers to your day case pathway
- 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
Karen Harries, President, British Association of Day Surgery
12:10pm
Speaking Session Reserved for Wesleyan Assurance Society
12:30pm
Question and Answers Session
12:50pm
Lunch & Networking
1:50pm
Speaking Session Reserved for Proximie
2:15pm
Session Reserved for John Jeans & Toni Bell
2:50pm
Break & Networking
3:20pm
The Role of the Surgical First Assistant (SFA): Defining Safe Boundaries in Surgical First Assistant Practice
- Understand PCC expectations for Surgical First Assistant (SFA) education and eligibility
- Appreciate the governance, accountability and scope boundaries associated with the SFA role
- Gain clarity on dual‑role constraints within current national guidance
- Understand the national position on SFA scope of practice, including the Robotic Assisted Surgery (RAS) bedside assistant role
- Recognise how clearly defined role boundaries contribute to patient safety in a changing perioperative workforce
Lindsay Keeley, Clinical, Patient Safety & Quality Lead, The Association for Perioperative Practice
3:45pm
Flow, Fatigue, and the Frontline: Redesigning Theatres for Staff Resilience
- How better scheduling reduces the "moral injury" of on-the-day cancellations for staff and patients
- changes to theatre rest areas, hydration access, and "Calm Rooms" that actually work
- Moving from a "blame culture" to a "learning culture" after Never Events or complications
4:10pm
Chairs Final Remarks and Close
Mark Rigby, Head of Theatre Services, Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust