C Hendrikse1, M Parak, D J Van Hoving. 1. Division of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Emergency centres, Mitchells Plain and Heideveld hospitals, Cape Town, South Africa. clint.hendrikse@uct.ac.za.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The global COVID-19 pandemic caused many countries to institute nationwide lockdowns to limit the spread of the disease. OBJECTIVES: To describe the effect of the national COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa (SA) on the workload and case mix of patients presenting to a district-level emergency centre. METHODS: The electronic patient tracking and registration database at Mitchells Plain Hospital, a district-level hospital in Cape Town, was retrospectively analysed. The 5-week lockdown period (27 March - 30 April 2020) was compared with a similar period immediately before the lockdown (21 February - 26 March). A comparison was also made with corresponding time periods during 2018 and 2019. Patient demographics, characteristics, diagnoses and disposition, as well as process times, were compared. RESULTS: A total of 26 164 emergency centre visits were analysed (8 297 in 2020, 9 726 in 2019, 8 141 in 2018). There was a reduction of 15% in overall emergency centre visits from 2019 to 2020 (non-trauma 14%, trauma 20%). A 35% decrease was seen between the 2020 lockdown period and the 5-week period before lockdown (non-trauma 33%, trauma 43%), and the reduced number of visits stayed similar throughout the lockdown period. The median age increased by 5 years during the 2020 lockdown period, along with an 8% decrease in patients aged <12 years. High-acuity patients increased by 6% and the emergency centre mortality rate increased by 1%. All process times were shorter during the lockdown period (time to triage -24%, time to consultation -56%, time to disposition decision -29%, time in the emergency centre -20%). CONCLUSIONS: The SA national COVID-19 lockdown resulted in a substantial decrease in the number of patients presenting to the emergency centre. It is yet to be seen how quickly emergency centre volumes will recover as lockdown measures are eased.
BACKGROUND: The global COVID-19 pandemic caused many countries to institute nationwide lockdowns to limit the spread of the disease. OBJECTIVES: To describe the effect of the national COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa (SA) on the workload and case mix of patients presenting to a district-level emergency centre. METHODS: The electronic patient tracking and registration database at Mitchells Plain Hospital, a district-level hospital in Cape Town, was retrospectively analysed. The 5-week lockdown period (27 March - 30 April 2020) was compared with a similar period immediately before the lockdown (21 February - 26 March). A comparison was also made with corresponding time periods during 2018 and 2019. Patient demographics, characteristics, diagnoses and disposition, as well as process times, were compared. RESULTS: A total of 26 164 emergency centre visits were analysed (8 297 in 2020, 9 726 in 2019, 8 141 in 2018). There was a reduction of 15% in overall emergency centre visits from 2019 to 2020 (non-trauma 14%, trauma 20%). A 35% decrease was seen between the 2020 lockdown period and the 5-week period before lockdown (non-trauma 33%, trauma 43%), and the reduced number of visits stayed similar throughout the lockdown period. The median age increased by 5 years during the 2020 lockdown period, along with an 8% decrease in patients aged <12 years. High-acuity patients increased by 6% and the emergency centre mortality rate increased by 1%. All process times were shorter during the lockdown period (time to triage -24%, time to consultation -56%, time to disposition decision -29%, time in the emergency centre -20%). CONCLUSIONS: The SA national COVID-19 lockdown resulted in a substantial decrease in the number of patients presenting to the emergency centre. It is yet to be seen how quickly emergency centre volumes will recover as lockdown measures are eased.