The impact and lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic on a UK Burns Centre.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted healthcare provision in the UK and burns services have had to adapt to ensure the continuity of a safe care. As we return to "normality" we reflect on lessons learnt from our response to this pandemic. A service evaluation was performed from patient notes between March 23rd and May 8th 2020 and an anonymous survey given to patients attending outpatient appointments. 258 patients were referred to our burns service and 148 patients completed the survey. Eleven burns were caused by treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Patients delayed seeking medical attention due to concern of catching COVID-19 (36% adults, 8% children). There was a delay in referral of 17 patients despite them fulfilling the referral criteria. Infection rates were higher following delayed presentation (21% vs 6%). The majority of burns were managed conservatively (237/258). Dressing changes were performed at home by 32% of patients. The outreach team treated 22 patients. During the pandemic telemedicine has improved the efficiency of outpatient burn care and outreach nurses have enabled treatment of vulnerable patients. More must be done to raise public awareness of preventable causes of burn injury and to reassure them to seek help when burns occur.

The effects of lockdown measures due to COVID-19 pandemic on burn cases.

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of lockdown measures implemented due to COVID-19 on aetiology, sociodemographic characteristics, and clinical status of burn cases. This study was carried out retrospectively at the Burn Unit of Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital. The burn cases during the COVID-19 outbreak were compared with those of the previous 2 years. Statistical analyses were carried out using the IBM SPSS (Statistics Package for Social Sciences) Statistics 25. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and Shapiro-Wilk test were used for data evaluation. Results were evaluated at 95% confidence interval and P < .05 significance level. It was determined that burn cases were reduced by half during the COVID-19 compared to the previous 2 years. Despite the increase in the number of third-degree burns and surgeries, it was determined that the length of hospital stay decreased by an average of two thirds. Hot liquids have been identified as the most important cause of burns in all years. New studies should be conducted in order to examine the social dimension of COVID-19 pandemic in burn cases and to prevent these cases completely. The short hospital stay preferred by clinicians after COVID-19 and possible problems that may arise should be investigated.