Day of surgery admission--is this safe practise?

Day of surgery admission (DOSA) describes the process whereby patients are admitted to hospital and have surgery, on the same day. This is the current admission policy in our institution, for most elective Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery patients. We audited 75 consecutive patients admitted on the same day as surgery within our department between May 2006 and January 2007. Significant comorbidity was seen in 28 patients (37.3%). Preoperative investigations prior to surgery were conducted in 64 patients (85.3%). About 21 patients (28%) were delayed going to theatre and the average length of delay was 51 mins. Our cancellation rate was 5.3%. Hospital management have embraced the concept of DOSA in our institution without evaluating the risk to patients. If the DOSA policy is to continue it is imperative that an adequate preoperative assessment clinic is established to prevent negative outcomes for our patients.