Efficiency changes in orthopaedic trauma surgery and implications for resource allocation.
Br J Hosp Med (Lond)
; 82(8): 1-6, 2021 Aug 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1372162
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS:
The trauma and orthopaedic surgery department needed to modify practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study quantitatively assessed the effects of changes in resource allocation on the efficiency of trauma, specifically the number of operations performed per defined trauma session.METHODS:
Trauma lists were reviewed pre-COVID, at the peak and at the tail of the first wave of COVID-19 infections at a hospital in the UK. Efficiency was calculated before and after the reallocation of resources and this was defined as the number of cases per trauma session as well as turnaround times for each part of the surgical patient journey.RESULTS:
The mean trauma list efficiency was 1.73 cases per session in February 2020 compared to 1.89 in February 2019. It reduced to 1.21 during the COVID peak in April 2020 compared to 1.90 in April 2019 and improved to 1.48 per session in June 2020 vs 1.82 in June 2019.CONCLUSIONS:
Measures introduced at the start of the pandemic are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Increased allocation of resources would be needed to allow urgent trauma surgery to provide a timely and efficient service.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Orthopedics
/
Orthopedic Procedures
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Br J Hosp Med (Lond)
Journal subject:
Hospitals
/
Medicine
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Hmed.2021.0060
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