Impact of COVID 19 on the provision of surgical services in Ontario, Canada: population-based analysis

D Gomez; F Dossa; C Sue-Chue-Lam; A S Wilton; C de Mestral; D Urbach; N Baxter

doi:10.1093/bjs/znaa043

Impact of COVID 19 on the provision of surgical services in Ontario, Canada: population-based analysis

Br J Surg. 2021 Jan 27;108(1):e15-e17. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znaa043.

Authors

D Gomez^{1

2

3

4}, F Dossa^{1

5}, C Sue-Chue-Lam^{1

5}, A S Wilton⁴, C de Mestral^{1

3

4

5

6}, D Urbach^{1

4

5}, N Baxter^{3

4

5

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
² Division of General Surgery, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³ Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁴ ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁵ Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁶ Division of Vascular Surgery, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
⁷ Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

In this population-based analysis, the rate of surgical procedures decreased during the COVID period with hospitals rapidly reducing ambulatory and in-patient elective procedures in response to government directives. However, the observed and unexpected large reduction in urgent surgical procedures highlights the need to prioritize access to care for patients with emergency surgical conditions as part of pandemic planning.

MeSH terms

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / statistics & numerical data
COVID-19 / epidemiology*
Elective Surgical Procedures / statistics & numerical data
Emergency Service, Hospital / statistics & numerical data
Facilities and Services Utilization
Health Services Accessibility / organization & administration*
Humans
Ontario / epidemiology
Pandemics*
SARS-CoV-2
Surgery Department, Hospital / organization & administration*
Surgery Department, Hospital / statistics & numerical data*