The return of elective surgery and implications for patient safety (15 June 2020)

Summary

In response to the pandemic earlier this year, the priority became freeing up as much bed and staffing capacity as possible within hospitals in anticipation of the incoming tide of COVID-19 patients. One way of doing this was postponing all non-urgent elective operations for a period of at least three months. It was estimated that this would free up 12,000-15,000 hospital beds in England alone.

This approach was successful in the short-term, helping the NHS to meet the immediate demand created by the pandemic. However, it has produced a longer-term challenge as we transition back to ‘normal’ with a large backlog of cases. Decisions about how these are prioritised will have significant implications for the health and wellbeing of patients. In this blog, Patient Safety Learning look at the patient safety implications and highlight where we need to focus on to avoid patient harm.

Read the full blog on the Patient Safety Learning website.