Maintaining elective surgery capacity while freeing up resuscitation capacity: the challenge of COVID-19 epidemic resumption

Aubrion, Antoine; Alvès, Arnaud; Helye, J P; Roupie, É.; Guittet, Lydia

doi:10.1093/bjs/znab006

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…These hospitals may have more capacity at certain phases of the pandemic than major centres, where high care/ICUs are still saturated with COVID-19 cases. 21 The surgical expertise of the secondary level centres can be temporarily expanded to cope with the specialised cases.…”

Section: Service Organisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies for recovery of a surgical service in the COVID-19 era

Nel

2022

S. Afr. j. surg.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a massive backlog of elective cases. Delays in the provision of "elective" surgical care have dire consequences for the patient: progression of disease and comorbidities, higher complication rates, and lower overall survival. Delays in elective surgery also have significant consequences for the health system: added emotional strain on healthcare workers, a reduction in training opportunities, increased costs, and increased inequality in health-service provision. As the virus is likely to become endemic, the recovery of surgical services from the initial shock of the first three waves needs to be carefully planned, in order to mitigate the further loss of elective surgical services. This article presents a narrative review of the latest international guidelines and recommendations pertaining to surgical recovery strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic. To begin with, any recovery plan should be led by a local governance committee, who need to design and implement a number of strategies across the three phases of recovery. The preparation phase includes deciding on a system of case prioritisation, assessing and organising resources, and planning innovative ways to reorganise the service itself. The perioperative phase involves putting measures in place to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The post discharge phase includes the implementation of telemedicine for follow-up, as well as methods of service audit to enable continuous adjustment and improvement. Surgical service recovery presents many challenges; however, these also present a unique opportunity to reassess and improve the efficiency of surgical care delivery.

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Section: Service Organisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies for recovery of a surgical service in the COVID-19 era

Nel

2022

S. Afr. j. surg.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… 4 Orthopedic, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular elective operations account for 33% of health system revenue, 5 not to mention the backlog of surgical cases created with executive mandates and elective surgery cancellation. 6 While elective surgeons were trying to most equitably triage patients for non-urgent surgery, 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 Acute Care Surgery (ACS) services were still managing large volumes of urgent and emergent surgical patients. In addition to helping staff inundated medical critical care units, ACS was still treating trauma, emergency general surgery (EGS), and surgical critical care (SCC) patients in a resource constrained and shifting landscape.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%