Table 1.
Comparison of surgical procedures during the COVID-19 period and the same period in 2019
| Historical cohort, 11–30 March 2019 |
COVID period, 11–30 March 2020 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 11–17 | March 18–24 | March 25–31 | March 11–17 | March 18–24 | March 25–31 | |
| Overall | ||||||
| Surgical procedures | 19 459 | 27 110 | 27 611 | 19 477 | 5933 | 4623 |
| Surgery rate (per 100 000 person-weeks) | 131.71 | 183.45 | 186.76 | 131.09 | 39.9 | 31.09 |
| Surgery relative rate* | ||||||
| Equivalent week in 2019 | – | – | – | 0.99 (0.98, 1.01) | 0.22 (0.22, 0.22) | 0.17 (0.16, 0.17) |
| Average of pre-COVID period in 2020 | – | – | – | 0.76 (0.75, 0.77) | 0.23 (0.27, 0.24) | 0.18 (0.17, 0.19) |
| Hospital O : E ratio of surgical procedures | ||||||
| O : E ratio† | – | – | – | 0.94 (0.47–1.25) | 0.16 (0.06–0.31) | 0.13 (0.03–0.22) |
| Hospitals with fewer than expected procedures‡ | – | – | – | 45 (34.3) | 125 (94.0) | 128 (98.5) |
| Ambulatory | ||||||
| Surgical procedures | 14 138 | 20 930 | 21 425 | 14 825 | 3419 | 2555 |
| Surgery rate (per 100 000 person-weeks) | 95.7 | 141.63 | 144.92 | 99.78 | 23.00 | 17.18 |
| Surgery relative rate† | ||||||
| Equivalent week in 2019 | – | – | – | 1.05 (1.02, 1.07) | 0.16 (0.16, 0.17) | 0.12 (0.11, 0.12) |
| Average of pre-COVID period in 2020 | – | – | – | 0.75 (0.74, 0.76) | 0.17 (0.17, 0.18) | 0.13 (0.12, 0.13) |
| Hospital O : E ratio of surgical procedures | ||||||
| O : E ratio† | – | – | – | 0.94 (0.71–1.28) | 0.10 (0.01–0.26) | 0.08 (0–0.18) |
| Hospitals with fewer than expected procedures‡ | – | – | – | 56 (42.7) | 127 (95.5) | 128 (98.5) |
| Inpatient elective | ||||||
| Surgical procedures | 2759 | 3644 | 3665 | 2569 | 902 | 782 |
| Surgery rate (per 100 000 person-weeks) | 18.67 | 24.66 | 24.79 | 17.29 | 6.07 | 5.26 |
| Surgery relative rate* | ||||||
| Equivalent week in 2019 | – | – | – | 0.93 (0.88, 0.98) | 0.25 (0.23, 0.26) | 0.21 (0.20, 0.23) |
| Average of pre-COVID period in 2020 | – | – | – | 0.75 (0.72, 0.78) | 0.26 (0.25, 0.28) | 0.23 (0.21, 0.24) |
| Hospital O : E ratio of surgical procedures | ||||||
| O : E ratio† | – | – | – | 0.93 (0.71–1.22) | 0.15 (0–0.26) | 0.17 (0.06–0.27) |
| Hospitals with fewer than expected procedures‡ | – | – | – | 60 (45.8) | 126 (94.7) | 124 (95.4) |
| Inpatient urgent | ||||||
| Surgical procedures | 2560 | 2535 | 2521 | 2082 | 1611 | 1286 |
| Surgery rate (per 100 000 person-weeks) | 17.33 | 17.15 | 17.05 | 14.01 | 10.83 | 8.65 |
| Surgery relative rate* | ||||||
| Equivalent week in 2019 | – | – | – | 0.81 (0.76, 0.86) | 0.63 (0.59, 0.67) | 0.51(0.47, 0.54) |
| Average of pre-COVID period in 2020 | – | – | – | 0.85 (0.81, 0.89) | 0.66 (0.63, 0.69) | 0.53 (0.50, 0.56) |
| Hospital O : E ratio of surgical procedures | ||||||
| O : E ratio† | – | – | – | 0.82 (0.58–1.1) | 0.59 (0.40–0.80) | 0.52 (0.25–0.69) |
| Hospitals with fewer than expected procedures‡ | – | – | – | 62 (47.3) | 90 (67.7) | 89 (68.5) |
Values in parentheses are percentages unless indicated otherwise;
*
values in parentheses are 95 per cent c.i.;
†
values are median (i.q.r.).
‡
Where the upper confidence limit of the observed to expected (O : E) ratio of procedures is below 1, hospitals performed fewer procedures than expected during the observed week compared with the equivalent week in 2019.