Introducing the EPOC Network
Too much of what happens after surgery is left to balancing risks `- the probability of adverse events and the ability to deliver optimal care. We don't always get this right, especially in a capacity-constrained healthcare system. Complications develop. Recoveries stall.
The EPOC Network exists to change that.
It’s on the success of the Advanced Recovery Room Care (ARRC) unit at the Royal Adelaide Hospital — where two clinical trials demonstrated fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, reduced mortality, and significant cost savings — that the Network brings together hospitals, clinicians, researchers, and health funders from across the world to expand access to this model of care.
A shared outcomes registry
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Our pilot outcomes registry aims to allow member units to contribute data, benchmark performance, and collectively build the evidence base that makes the case for EPOC care — with hospital leadership, administrators, and health funders alike.
An implementation toolkit
Setting up an EPOC unit is complex. Our implementation toolkit draws on real-world experience from established units to guide you through major decisions — from space and staffing to patient selection, referral pathways, data collection, and economics and business cases.
You don’t have to start from scratch.
Shared knowledge
We are building a repository of knowledge on EPOCs and aspects of postoperative care. In parallel, we plan online and face-to-face meetings to share ideas. The first World Congress of EPOCs was held in London, and the second will be in Australia in 2027.
We are at the beginning of something important. I invite you to join us.
By Professor Guy Ludbrook
Guy is Professor of Anaesthesia at Adelaide University and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Director of PARC Clinical Research, and Director of Innovation at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network.