Infection prevention in the era of COVID-19

How will theatre infection prevention strategies need to adapt to a new era, following the pandemic? Kate Woodhead, RGN DMS, considers best practice as elective surgery resumes. 

There will be many teams around the country reviewing their policies and guidance in the light of the new reality; restarting surgery for elective care will need to be rather different. There is much pent up demand which will need to be met, as surgery has been closed down in recent months. It is estimated by Birmingham University research that 516,000 surgical procedures were cancelled during the COVID-19 crisis in the UK and that it may take 11 months to clear the backlog.1 This possibly underestimates the additional resources and time which will be required for each patient, and will need significant extra funds and staff to ensure it happens effectively and safely. Planning the capacity for NHS Trusts to resume elective care, while still treating some COVID-19 patients, is a significant challenge for healthcare teams and management. 

However, opportunities for addressing other aspects of care also exist within this clinical challenge. Infection prevention and control has been at the forefront of care  provision for several months with all the healthcare workforce, affecting everyone who works in the hospital. It would be a great pity to squander the crisis and not address aspects of previous perioperative care which were not quite as good as they could be, while also, out of necessity, managing the new care imperatives regarding the coronavirus. This will require some renewed education, multidisciplinary team focus and some changes to practice.