Surgery During the Pandemic in a Public Hospital in South West Victoria, Australia: A Regional/Rural Perspective

IF 1.9 4区医学 Q2 NURSING

Australian Journal of Rural Health Pub Date : 2025-06-06 DOI:10.1111/ajr.70063

Thomas J. Neerhut, Jacob Gordon, Margaret J. Rogers, Susan Brereton, Simon A. Williams

{"title":"Surgery During the Pandemic in a Public Hospital in South West Victoria, Australia: A Regional/Rural Perspective","authors":"Thomas J. Neerhut, Jacob Gordon, Margaret J. Rogers, Susan Brereton, Simon A. Williams","doi":"10.1111/ajr.70063","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Objective</h3>\n \n <p>In Victoria, the onset of COVID-19 resulted in restricted entry to metropolitan areas, and lockdowns were a common occurrence. Our health services adapted and changed procedures. Surgical services were limited to urgent cases, while staff were redirected to support COVID-19 health care. This study documents the experience of surgical services in a public hospital serving a rural and regional population in south-west Victoria.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Design</h3>\n \n <p>Cohort study.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>All patients who had operations at University Hospital Geelong, the major regional hospital in south-west Victoria, were included in this study. Operations pre-pandemic (2019), during the pandemic (2020–2022) and late pandemic (2023) were recorded. The flow of procedures within each subspecialty, cancellations and the waiting list are reported.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>From July 2019 until June 2023, there were 76 098 operations performed with the largest number of operations by general surgery (17 610), plastics and reconstruction (10 560), obstetrics and gynaecology (10 848) and orthopaedics (8376). Emergency procedures peaked at 41% in 2020. Urology experienced the highest percentage increase for operations in 2023 (by 40%), followed by obstetrics and gynaecology (15%), general surgery (14%), otolaryngology (14%), orthopaedics (12%), ophthalmology (11%) and vascular surgery (9%). Staff not available was a reason for cancellation of surgery and the wait list increased by 121% in 2022.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusion</h3>\n \n <p>The wait list late pandemic far exceeds that of pre pandemic, increasing the potential to exacerbate regional/rural Victoria's limited access to care. The significant impact on various surgical specialties in regional hospitals requires refocus to ensure that the elective surgery waitlist is addressed.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":55421,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Rural Health","volume":"33 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of Rural Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajr.70063","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

In Victoria, the onset of COVID-19 resulted in restricted entry to metropolitan areas, and lockdowns were a common occurrence. Our health services adapted and changed procedures. Surgical services were limited to urgent cases, while staff were redirected to support COVID-19 health care. This study documents the experience of surgical services in a public hospital serving a rural and regional population in south-west Victoria.

Design

Cohort study.

Methods

All patients who had operations at University Hospital Geelong, the major regional hospital in south-west Victoria, were included in this study. Operations pre-pandemic (2019), during the pandemic (2020–2022) and late pandemic (2023) were recorded. The flow of procedures within each subspecialty, cancellations and the waiting list are reported.

Results

From July 2019 until June 2023, there were 76 098 operations performed with the largest number of operations by general surgery (17 610), plastics and reconstruction (10 560), obstetrics and gynaecology (10 848) and orthopaedics (8376). Emergency procedures peaked at 41% in 2020. Urology experienced the highest percentage increase for operations in 2023 (by 40%), followed by obstetrics and gynaecology (15%), general surgery (14%), otolaryngology (14%), orthopaedics (12%), ophthalmology (11%) and vascular surgery (9%). Staff not available was a reason for cancellation of surgery and the wait list increased by 121% in 2022.

Conclusion

The wait list late pandemic far exceeds that of pre pandemic, increasing the potential to exacerbate regional/rural Victoria's limited access to care. The significant impact on various surgical specialties in regional hospitals requires refocus to ensure that the elective surgery waitlist is addressed.

查看原文本刊更多论文

澳大利亚维多利亚州西南部一家公立医院大流行期间的外科手术：区域/农村视角

目的在维多利亚州，由于新冠肺炎疫情的发生，限制了人们进入大都市区，封锁是一种常见现象。我们的卫生服务调整和改变了程序。手术服务仅限于紧急病例，而工作人员则被重新定向到支持COVID-19卫生保健工作。本研究记录了维多利亚州西南部一家为农村和地区人口服务的公立医院的外科服务经验。设计队列研究。方法选取在维多利亚州西南部主要地区医院吉朗大学医院进行手术的所有患者。记录了大流行前（2019年）、大流行期间（2020-2022年）和大流行后期（2023年）的行动。报告每个专科的流程、取消和等待名单。结果2019年7月至2023年6月，共进行手术76 098例，其中普外科（17 610例）、整形与重建（10 560例）、妇产科（10 848例）和骨科（8376例）手术最多。紧急程序在2020年达到了41%的峰值。2023年泌尿外科手术增长比例最高（40%），其次是妇产科（15%）、普外科（14%）、耳鼻喉科（14%）、骨科（12%）、眼科（11%）和血管外科（9%）。工作人员不在是取消手术的原因，2022年等待手术的人数增加了121%。结论大流行后期的等待名单远远超过大流行前的等待名单，增加了加剧维多利亚地区/农村地区有限的医疗服务可及性的可能性。对区域医院各种外科专科的重大影响需要重新集中，以确保择期手术等候名单得到解决。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Australian Journal of Rural Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

2.30

自引率

16.70%

发文量

122

审稿时长

12 months

期刊介绍： The Australian Journal of Rural Health publishes articles in the field of rural health. It facilitates the formation of interdisciplinary networks, so that rural health professionals can form a cohesive group and work together for the advancement of rural practice, in all health disciplines. The Journal aims to establish a national and international reputation for the quality of its scholarly discourse and its value to rural health professionals. All articles, unless otherwise identified, are peer reviewed by at least two researchers expert in the field of the submitted paper.