BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice

The BSc (Hons) Operating Department Practice has been designed for healthcare workers with an interest in working as registered operating department practitioners to offer co-ordinated patient-centred care during the peri-operative period.Students on this course have intensive periods of time in university followed by periods in clinical practice, working alongside a qualified mentor in a range of peri-operative care settings: anaesthetics, operating theatres, emergency departments, intensive care and recovery. In addition to technical and humanistic skills, our ODPs also develop skills in research, clinical audit and reflection: the foundations for evidence based practice.It has long been recognised that the clinical setting produces significant clinical waste; this course addresses this issue in relation to managing the ecological impact of the peri-operative environment. The ODP can be found increasingly in the non-traditional settings of the pre-assessment clinics, community dental and mental health clinics. In consultation with service users it was identified that the ODP can not only provide a unique insight into the clinical process that supports patients, but they may relieve the stress experienced by carers and significant others.