Mapping strategies for reducing inequalities in adult elective surgical care in the United Kingdom: a living scoping review protocol.

Background: Equitability of healthcare and timely access to services are essential components of healthcare quality, yet persistent health inequalities and inequity of access remain global challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated these disparities, underscoring the urgency to address health inequalities. In the United Kingdom (UK), despite longstanding recognition and efforts to tackle health inequalities, progress has been slow, with the pandemic highlighting stark disparities in healthcare outcomes and access. Renewed governmental initiatives and regional strategies aim to address these disparities, including within elective surgical care.

Methods and analysis: This living scoping review protocol follows established methodological frameworks to map current evidence on strategies to reduce health inequalities in elective surgical care in the UK. Electronic databases (OVID Medline, Embase, Health Management Information Consortium, CINAHL) and grey literature sources will be systematically searched, with no time limit set, to identify relevant studies and documents. Selection criteria include articles describing strategies or policies aiming to reduce health inequalities in elective surgical care for adults in the UK, along with their impact on health outcomes. Data will be charted, collated, and summarised to provide a narrative description of findings.

Discussion: This is the first living scoping review to map the available evidence on strategies to reduce inequalities in elective surgical care, across the whole patient pathway, in the UK. It is anticipated that this living review will be useful in informing future research, policy, and good practice. The findings of the scoping review will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication, presented at academic conferences, and discussed with a steering committee to inform future studies.

Systematic review registration: The protocol was submitted to the Open Science Framework on 30/05/2024.