Operating department practitioner

Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs) are healthcare professionals working in the United Kingdom. They are mainly employed in surgical operating departments but can be found in other areas of clinical practice including Accident & Emergency (A&E) and intensive care units. The title of "operating department practitioner" is a protected title and the profession is regulated in the UK by the Health Professions Council (HPC).

ODPs work as a member of a multi-disciplinary team that includes doctors, nurses and support workers. Since 2004 the profession has been regulated by the HPC but was previously regulated by the Association of Operating Department Practitioners.

The governing body of the ODPs is the College of Operating Department Practitioners (CODP) previously known as the Association of Operating Department Practitioners (AODP). Any person whether a Doctor, Nurse, ODP or Health Care Assistant (HCA) are all under one branch of practice, named the Association for Perioperative Practice (AfPP).

ODPs are involved with the overall planning and delivery of a patient's perioperative care.

For a patient undergoing surgery the perioperative period of their care can divided into three main areas:


 * Anaesthetic stage
 * Surgical stage
 * Recovery stage

Anaesthetic stage
During this stage of a patient's care, ODPs prepare the drugs and equipment needed for the patient to undergo anaesthesia. This may involve preparing and checking the anaesthetic machines, intravenous drugs / fluids, and devices to maintain the patient's airway (e.g. laryngeal masks or endo-tracheal tubes). ODPs will also communicate with the patient when they arrive in the anaesthetic room, verifying the pre-op check-list for allergies and past medical history. These last "barrier" checks can sometimes discover important information that no-one else has picked up on, such as allergies and fasting status for example. They assist the anaesthetist with the planned anaesthetic. They stay with the patient throughout their surgical intervention and alongside the anaesthetist help to maintain the "triad of anaesthesia" which consists of:


 * Analgesic (pain control &mdash; opioid and non-opioid analgesics etc.)
 * Relaxation (muscle control via relaxants to facilitate ventilation or surgical requirements)
 * Narcosis (drug induced sleep)

In some hospitals ODPs are members of "in-hospital" cardiac arrest teams, they work closely with anaesthetists to maintain the patient's airway and sometimes can instigate tracheal tubing where no other suitably trained person is available. They also attend "trauma calls" normally in the hospital's resuscitation area where they can deal with anything from babies with respiratory difficulties to major road traffic accident victims with polytrauma.

In some NHS Trusts, ODPs are also an important resource used during emergency inter-hospital transfers, mainly to Neurosurgical hospitals, decompression chambers and intensive care units. ODP's prepare and facilitate transfers arranging drugs, equipment, emergency airway apparatus, and generally assist the anaesthetist, who along with the ODP and two paramedics usually make up the transfer team.

Surgical stage
The ODP's function during the scrubbed role involves the ODP scrubbing his or her hands up to the elbow in preparation for the aseptic procedure; wearing a sterile gown and gloves in the open or closed technique; preparing all the sterile instruments and equipment to be used for the operation; and working alongside the surgeon, passing the instruments within the sterile field. Swabs and instruments are all accounted for by the ODP to verify nothing has been "left inside" the patient. The ODP may also work in the circulating role during the surgical stage of a patient's care. In the circulating role, the ODP will provide extra materials to the scrubbed person, help position the patient on the operating table and plan ahead to supply what the surgeon may need during that case. They may also set up additional equipment needed, and act as a link between the scrub team and the rest of the hospital.

Recovery stage
When the operation has finished, the patient is taken to the recovery unit where the ODP will assess the patient, providing airway management if needed and monitoring the patient's physiological signs. The ODP will then provide treatment such as the administration of prescribed drugs or other interventions, allowing the patient to fully recover from the effects of anaesthesia. The ODP will also assess if the patient needs help from a physician or can be safely discharged to the ward.

Training
There are various universities in the UK that offer a Diploma in Higher Education qualification in Operating Department Practice. It is a 3 year course full time and some universities offer a part time course. The course is 40% theory and 60% practice. A degree programme in the subject is currently being compiled. There is also a potential to add on after finishing this professional qualification, you could decided to specialise more in the Anaesthetic phase and become a Anaesthetic Care Practitioner, or alternativley you could opt for Speciality in Surgery and become a Surgical Care Practitioner, and pay would relate to your new role within your department. These add on courses are available in a 1 year add on going up to 4 years part-time.

Some Institutions offer Accredited Prior Learning (APL) courses. For example Teesside University offers the APL Nursing course to ODP's, this enables a fast track way to become a Nurse after a year of full-time study, or the option of the Paramedical Sciences course which can super fast track the student to an Emergency Care Practitioner (an extended role paramedics) in just 12 weeks. These courses are both offered as a Diploma and also entitles the practitioner to register under their new profession after completing the course. These courses are self funded, however there may be grants available from NHS Trusts.