Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (HBA) received international certification as Centre of Excellence from ERAS program (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery), an innovative clinical program with the purpose of adopting better practices in healthcare provided to patients submitted to surgery, in order to maximize positive results. HBA is the only hospital in Portugal certified as centre of excellence by ERAS program. The implementation of this program at HBA, followed-up by ERAS Society, took place between May 17 and December 12 of 2016. With the certification now obtained, Hospital Beatriz Ângelo becomes also an education centre for ERAS program. ERAS Society is a medical non-profit organization, established in 2010, with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, where the program was originally implemented. It was established on the initiative of a group of physicians and surgeons, that had been considering since 2001 the necessity to set protocols concerning healthcare provided to surgical patients, harmonizing the practices showing best results. ERAS was then developed in some of the best hospitals in Europe and the United States, with very positive results, the HBA being the first hospital in Portugal to join the program. In this first phase of implementation of ERAS, HBA teams worked mostly with protocols for the follow-up of patients submitted to colon and rectal surgery, with about 20 HBA patients already included in the program. By means of a multidisciplinary intervention, an exhaustive preparation of the patients is done before surgery, with standardization of intraoperative and postoperative care. The goal is to achieve a better and faster recovery of the patient, simultaneously reducing postoperative complications and risks associated to prolonged internment.
