206 Impact of theatre cancellation on surgical training

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant consequences on healthcare delivery worldwide, with a particular impact on surgical services and training. In preparation for the influx of COVID cases, non-urgent appointments, investigations, and operations were cancelled. As a result of the cancellation of cases, elective and emergency case exposure was inevitably reduced. Over 65 percent of trainees lost all training and only 9% reported that they would meet the essential skills. One in eight trainees in their final year have had their training extended due to failure to meet curricular requirements, while a quarter of trainees reach their final year behind their planned training trajectory. The primary objective was to identify the case with the highest cancellation rate to perceive its impact on surgical training. Method This is a retrospective study of data gathered by Department of eHealth in a tertiary hospital. Data collected from December 2020 to September 2021were analysed. Results 121 elective cases were cancelled over the course of 9.5 months. More than thirty types of elective operations were cancelled, with Laparoscopic cholecystectomy - 33 (27.3%) and EUA rectum - 10 (8.3%) being the two most often cancelled procedures. Twenty percent (n=20) of the cancelled cases were malignant. Conclusion The recovery of surgical training requires a joint effort from all – the trainers, the trainees and those involved in the delivery of surgical training. The training opportunities for trainees of any grade should be maximised in the theatre setting along with other training opportunities focussed on specific index procedure.