Location in SystemView: SystemView > Explore > Surgery > Theatre Effectiveness > Late Starts
In this article:
What it is
The Late Starts component analyses time lost when theatre sessions begin later than planned.
It visualises how much of each session’s available time was used, and how much was lost to late starts across your theatres, specialties, and doctors.
Just like the Utilisation component, you can explore performance trends and drill down to session-level insights — but this view focuses specifically on the proportion of unused theatre time attributed to late starts.
Why it matters
Every minute a theatre starts late is a minute lost from patient care.
- Quantify how much time is being lost to late starts.
- Identify which specialties and doctors experience the highest frequency or duration of delays.
- Pinpoint operational causes and support targeted improvement plans.
- Support accurate resource planning and benchmarking between teams.
How to use it
Filter to focus your view
Use the filters to set the scope of your analysis.
You can filter by:
- Facility / Hospital: Choose the hospital you want to analyse.
- Session Type: Filter by elective or emergency sessions.
- Time Period: View weekly utilisation trends for up to the past 12 months.
- Theatre Group: Filter between main operating theatres and other procedural areas.
- Calculation: Choose whether to base utilisation on operation start only, include anaesthetic time, or include anaesthetic + changeover time depending on your site setup.
After applying your filters, you can explore deeper by clicking through the charts to move from hospital-level data down to individual specialties, doctors, and sessions.
Explore late start trends
The charts in this component show how much of each week’s theatre time was used for operations versus how much was lost to late starts.
You can:
- Start at the facility / hospital view to see your overall late start trend.
- Drill down to a specific specialty to identify where the majority of late starts occur.
- Explore by doctor to identify variations in punctuality and workflow.
- Click into a session to view what was planned versus what actually occurred.
Toggle between:
- Total Time: Displays theatre time and late start minutes in 240-minute (4-hour) session units.
- Session %: Displays the percentage of sessions affected by late starts over time, accompanied by a trend line showing sessions per week.
💡 Tip: Select Late Starts on the chart legend to isolate and visualise the total time lost across all sessions more clearly.
How it works
The Late Starts component measures and visualises the proportion of total available theatre time lost due to sessions beginning later than scheduled.
Calculation logic
- Late Start: A late start is any session that begins after its planned start time.
The exact threshold for when a session is considered “late” varies between organisations. The calculation used for your site is displayed at the top of the component, showing how many minutes after the scheduled start time a session is classified as a late start. - Patients in Operating Room (OR): The total time patients spent in theatre (‘wheels in’ to ‘wheels out’), depending on the calculation selected in the filters.
- Other Time: The portion of the session not used for operations. This can include anaesthetic time (if not performed outside the theatre), patient changeovers, and early finishes.
- Session: A standardised four-hour (240-minute) block of theatre time used as the baseline for utilisation calculations and reporting.
How it helps you
- Spot patterns early: Identify recurring late starts at hospital, specialty, or doctor level.
- Understand variation: Compare performance between doctors or days to find underlying causes.
- Support improvement plans: Provide evidence for scheduling, staffing, or process reviews.
- Optimise utilisation: Use insights to minimise idle time and improve on-time starts.
Best practices
How often should I use it
| What to do | How often | Who should do it | Why it helps |
| Review late start trends by specialty | Weekly | Theatre Managers, Clinical Leads | Detect operational delays early |
| Drill into doctor-level patterns | Monthly | Specialty Leads | Identify individuals or teams that may need workflow support |
| Compare late start and utilisation data together | Monthly | Data Analysts, Managers | Understand how late starts affect overall theatre efficiency |
| Discuss late start trends in performance meetings | Quarterly | Executives, Service Managers | Drive accountability and continuous improvement |
Pair with these components
- Theatre Effectiveness > Utilisation: See the overall proportion of theatre time used versus unused, and how late starts contribute to unused minutes.
- Session Details Table: Drill into the granular data to analyse how many late starts occurred and compare variation between doctors, specialties, or session types.
- Theatre Effectiveness > Early Finishes: Identify whether the same specialties or doctors with late starts also tend to finish early.
- Theatre Effectiveness > Late Finishes: Assess whether late starts create knock-on effects that push sessions beyond their allocated time.
Tips for success
- Use the Session % toggle to quickly compare trends over time.
- Isolate Late Starts in the chart legend to see their total impact.
- Always check the “Late start after:” note at the top of the component — it defines your site’s threshold for what counts as a late start.
- Combine this component with Utilisation and Early Finishes for a complete picture of session efficiency.
Want a detailed breakdown?
If you’d like a more detailed look at every filter, chart, and tile in this component, you can download the Theatre Effectiveness Late Starts Guide below.
📎 Download: Theatre Effectiveness > Late Starts Guide
❓ FAQs
Q. How is a late start defined?
A. Your site’s definition appears at the top of the component (e.g. Late start after 1 minutes). This represents how long after the planned start time a session must begin before it’s counted as late.
Q. Can I view late start trends as a percentage?
A. Yes. Use the Total Time / Session % toggle to switch between total late start time (in 4-hour session units) and the percentage of sessions affected.