Abstract
BackgroundRecent studies have shown a decline in theatre efficiency and productivity coinciding with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, we evaluate trauma theatre task efficiency in three different time periods (April 2019, April 2020, and November 2020), and analyse if productivity has altered since the start of the pandemic.MethodsThe records of a total of 320 patients who underwent orthopaedic trauma surgery at a large district general hospital in April 2019, April 2020 (during the first wave of the pandemic) and November 2020 (during the second wave of the pandemic) were analysed. Primary outcomes measured include time to get to the theatre, anaesthetic preparation time, the sum of time of anaesthesia and surgical preparation time, duration of surgery and time to transfer to recovery. Patient demographics as well as the type of surgery were also analysed.ResultsThe time to get to the theatre and anaesthetic preparation time significantly increased in April 2020 (p<0.05) but fell in November 2020 with no significant difference in comparison to before the pandemic in April 2019 (p>0.05). The duration of surgery and time to transfer to recovery significantly increased in April 2020 (p<0.05) and though reduced in November 2020, was still significantly greater in comparison to April 2019 (p<0.05). In April 2020, the proportion of patients aged 18-65 was just 26% as compared to 35% in April 2019. This figure rose again to 45% in November 2020. The number of hip fracture procedures remained similar during the three time periods, with 32, 32 and 36 hip fracture operations in April 2019, April 2020 and November 2020, respectively.ConclusionWhile operating theatres' efficiency decreased during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it increased again in the second wave, coming close to the ‘normal’ levels before the pandemic struck.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to modern healthcare services
The time to get to the theatre and anaesthetic preparation time significantly increased in April 2020 (p0.05)
This study shows a reduction in trauma theatre task efficiency when the pandemic was initially declared, results from November 2020 showed an improvement across most measured variables
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to modern healthcare services. Several recent studies have shown a fall in operating room efficiency when the pandemic initially affected healthcare systems across the world [7,8,9]. At the time of writing, there are no studies that have analysed how the efficiency of operating theatres has changed over the many months since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 [10]. Recent studies have shown a decline in theatre efficiency and productivity coinciding with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluate trauma theatre task efficiency in three different time periods (April 2019, April 2020, and November 2020), and analyse if productivity has altered since the start of the pandemic
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