A prolonged wait: The impact of COVID-19 on elective surgeries in India, a prospective study

<ns4:p>Background The continuing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a massive impact on healthcare systems all around the globe. There is no exception in the demographics of elective surgery also. Like any other medical professionals, surgeons and post-graduates are redirected to the management of patients with COVID-19. The purpose of this study is to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affected elective surgeries, surgeon skills, and post-graduate training. Methods This prospective study was done among 320 participants through a 15-question online cross-sectional survey sent primarily to surgeons practicing in six states of India that were most affected by the pandemic according to recent statistics and also to surgeons in other states <ns4:italic>via</ns4:italic> email or other online messaging services carried out from June 2021 to July 2021. Results 320 surgeons participated from various states in India. Overall, 59.7% of those participants who agreed that there was a reduction in bed availability, 70.4% of those participants who agreed that there was a shortage of oxygen, 78.8% of those participants who agreed that there was a shortage of PPE kits, 60.7% of those participants who agreed that there was a delay in procurement of surgical implants and 64% of participants also agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the post-graduate teaching program. Conclusions All these factors showed significant p-values with statistical significance, thereby indicating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare system and healthcare delivery. The pandemic also had a significant impact on post-graduate training.</ns4:p>