One third of surgeons unable to undertake operations

A month after NHS England outlined how elective surgery should safely be able to resume, a new survey finds one third of surgeons have been unable to re-start surgery.

Among those surgeons who are unable to re-start elective procedures, one third say lack of access to fast coronavirus tests for patients remains a barrier.  The survey found time taken to get test results varied widely across the UK: just 10 per cent of surgeons could get test results for surgical patients within eight hours; a further 31 per cent of respondents could get test results within 24 hours; a further 34 per cent could get results within 48 hours; and a further 13 per cent could get results within 72 hours.

Off the back of the findings, the Royal College of Surgeons of England is urging for surgical teams across the UK to have access to same-day test results for patients.

Derek Alderson, president of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “The speed at which tests results can be returned is a crucial factor in enabling more elective surgery to take place safely. The aim should be for surgeons to have access to same-day test results, so that they can test patients both before and on admission, and again upon discharge – nine in ten surgeons we asked agree.

“If patients have a negative Covid result on the same day of their surgery and have isolated for a fortnight as recommended, then the surgical team can proceed with greater confidence. Operating on a patient who has Covid-19 is not a good idea, so the more we can do to reduce that risk, the better.”

Testing was not the only barrier surgeons cited, but it is likely the fastest to solve. Other major barriers included ‘a lack of capacity in interdependent services such as diagnostics, anaesthesia and sterile processing’ (46 per cent) and a ‘lack of staff’ (35 per cent).