Challenges, reorganisation and recovery of obstetrics and gynecology outpatient services during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital

Abstract

: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. As of 16 January 2021, the WHO reported a total of 92,506,811 cases globally, with 2,001,773 deaths. The total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Singapore reported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) as of 16 January 2021 is 59,054 cases with 270 active cases. As there is currently no cure for COVID-19 infection, the best management strategy remains prevention of transmission through public infection control measures and the recently introduced vaccination programs. Globally, healthcare institutions across multiple disciplines are actively taking measures to reduce their ambulatory outpatient load for low-risk conditions to avoid unnecessary clinic visits and hence reduce the risk of exposure and transmission. In this paper, we describe the challenges faced and the reorganisation of care in the outpatient Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G) service in the largest tertiary hospital and referral centre for O&G in Singapore during the COVID-19 outbreak. We also present the challenges we anticipated upon resumption of our services in the post-outbreak period, and discuss the novel strategies we implemented to cope with the increased number of cases expected. These strategies are aimed to improve the standard of patient care, whilst adhering to public infection control guidelines to ensure the safety of our patients and healthcare workers.