Background
To evaluate compliance of early laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC) service provision for gallstone pancreatitis in a district general hospital(DGH)

Materials and Methods
Patient's information coded as gallstone pancreatitis in discharge summaries were collected retrospectively for year 2013. Timescale to surgery following index event, pre-operative readmission rates, serious complications and further investigations were recorded.

Result
50(n=50) case-notes were randomly selected for audit purposes. 38(76%) were women, mean age(SD) 45.7(17.1); 46(92%) delayed LCs were performed with median(i.q.r.) wait of 115(72.5- 165.5)days, 1(2%) early LC within 2 weeks; 3(6%) were awaiting surgery. 38(76%) patients required MRCP and 9(18%) ERCPs pre-op; median time from MRCP/ERCP to surgery was 96.5(61.2-138)days. There were 60 episodes of readmissions equating to 120% risk of readmission per person. 1(2%) patient was readmitted with severe necrotising pancreatitis requiring extended ITU admission.

Conclusion
Delayed operative strategy for gallstone pancreatitis increases morbidity for patients and places an economic strain on the health care system with recurrent admissions. To reduce such occurrences patients have to be counselled for surgery during index admission and infrastructure created to operate on ‘hot’ gallbladders.