Patras – 1977

Preliminary Report on the Third Meeting, held in Patras, Greece, 18th-22nd July 1977
Edited by Aris Sissouras – Organiser of the Patras Meeting and Duncan Boldy – Chairman of the Working Group

Introduction

The Patras meeting represents the third annual meeting of our EURO working group, following earlier meetings in Exeter, United Kingdom (September 1975) and Munich, Germany (June 1976). As agreed at our last meeting in Munich, particular attention was paid to the problems of implementation.

A total of 22 papers were presented during the three working days of the meeting following a welcoming address by the Rector of the University of Patras, Professor K. Syros and an opening address by Mrs. M. Violaki, Director General of the Greek Ministry of Health and Social Security. As can be seen, most of the papers relate to hospital studies, but there was also a number of papers presented concerned with strategic aspects of planning health care services.

Eleven European Countries were represented by the 24 participants (not including a number of Greek observers), compared with comparable figures for the two earlier meetings of 6 countries, 14 participants (Exeter) and 7 countries, 18 participants (Munich). The group now has members from each of the 15 EURO member countries except Belgium, France, Spain and Turkey.

Nine members of the group were accompanied by either their wife of their wife and family. The organisation of the meeting, with three working days and two free days with excursions, provided an ideal setting for maximising both the exchange of ideas and for getting to know fellow members.

Registers of current health O.R. work have now been produced by members of the group covering Germany (18 projects), Sweden (12 projects) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (114 projects).

An internal report containing summaries of the papers presented has been produced for each of the first two meetings of the group, and the possibility of producing and publishing a monograph based mainly on the papers presented at the third meeting is being investigated.

In discussing the location of further meetings of the group, members considered linking with other European events such as :- EURO III, April 1979, The Netherlands and the International Hospital Federation Congress, June 1979, Norway. However, it was decided that as the group aimed to provide a more informal, discussion orientated setting it was impractical to try and link with other events, which were in any case unlikely to be held in a location, or at a time, suitable to a member willing to organise a future working group meeting. As regards the IHF Congress, it was agreed that it would be desirable for the group to propose 2-3 speakers for a half-day session on "Practical Applications of Operational Research to Hospital and Health Services". The organisers, locations and times agreed for the next two meetings of the working groups are:-

  • Mark Füllemann, Zurich, Switzerland, July 1978
  • Cathal Lennon, Dublin, Ireland, July 1979

with "Case Studies and their Implementation" as a general theme for the next meeting in Switzerland.

The following general principles regarding future meetings were agreed:-

  • the number of attenders to be limited to a maximum of about 30, in order to preserve the informal, discussion-orientated nature of our meetings,
  • a one hour period is desirable for each paper with the main presentation lasting about 20-30 minutes to allow ample time for discussion,
  • meetings to consist of about three working days with a break in the middle, to encourage wives and families to attend.

List of Papers Presented

  1. "A national system for five year hospital/planning - principles and experiences from implementation." – Marten Lagergren (Sweden)
  2. "Balance of Health and Social Services Care: Implementation." – Duncan Boldy (England)
  3. "The Scheduling of nurses – the model and its implementation problems." – Mark Fulleman (Switzerland)
  4. "Measurement of Nursing Workload." – John Luckman (England)
  5. "Implementation of an operational planning and control system together with manpower planning and daily allocation of resources." – Leif Sonkin and Gaij Feodoreff (Finland)
  6. "A planning Model in a General Hospital." – Ciaran O’Kane (N. Ireland)
  7. "A Longtime Planning Model for a Pathological Department." – Lars Bostrup (Denmark)
  8. "Scheduling of the Workload of a Radiodiagnostic Department in a General Hospital." – Michel Kirkels (Netherlands)
  9. "Classification of Patient Needs in an Acute Care Hospital." – Cathal Lennon (Ireland)
  10. "Strategic Planning in Health Services in Scotland." – Colin Wiseman (Scotland)
  11. "The Planning Context in Health Care – An Operational Synthesis." – Constantin Xanthopoulos (Greece)
  12. "Scheduling of a simultaneous reorganisation in seven hospitals of Munich." – Clemens Dietrich (Germany)
  13. "The General Practitioner and the Laboratory." – Richard Mole (England)
  14. "Problems of Computer Development in Greek Hospitals." – Aris Sissouras (Greece)
  15. "Computers and Health Planning – the British Experience." – Allan Thomas (England)
  16. "Schedule of Cost Prices for Clinical Laboratory Procedures." – Sune Petersen (Denmark)
  17. "Comparisons of Consumptions of Diagnostic Services." – Lars Bostrup (Denmark)
  18. "Evaluating the Quality of Medical Care Process: Some Lines of Approach." – Elvezio Montesarchio (Italy)
  19. "Models for Medical Manpower." – Panagiotis Pollalis (Greece)
  20. "Strategies of Implementation." – Arne Frederiksen (Denmark)
  21. "A Unit Information System." – John Luckman (England)
  22. "Operational Research in Hospitals – A Critical Review." – Aris Sissouras (Greece)

List of Participants

  • Dr. Joseph van Aert – The Netherlands
  • Dr. Duncan Boldy – England
  • Mr. Lars Bostrup – Denmark
  • Dr. Clemens Dietrich – Germany
  • Dr. Gaij Feodoreff – Finland
  • Prof. Arne Frederiksen – Denmark
  • Mr. Mark Füllemann – Switzerland
  • Mr. Heinz Harland – Germany
  • Mr. Michel Kirkels – The Netherlands
  • Mr. Marten Lagergren – Sweden
  • Dr. Cathal Lennon – Ireland
  • Mr. John Luckman – England
  • Dr. Einar Matson – Norway
  • Dr. Richard Mole – England
  • Mr. Elvezio Montesarchio – Italy
  • Dr. Ciaran O’Kane – Northern Ireland
  • Mr. Sune Petersen – Denmark
  • Dr. Panagiotis Pollalis – Greece
  • Miss Anke J. Sloos – The Netherlands
  • Prof. Aris Sissouras – Greece
  • Mr. Leif Sonkin – Finland
  • Dr. Allan Thomas – England
  • Mr. Colin Wiseman – Scotland
  • Dr. Constantin Xanthopoulos – Greece