2) Triaging and Decantment of Patients
A list of criteria was generated to identify non-urgent conditions and all scheduled clinic appointments were screened two weeks prior. Patients with non-urgent conditions were telephone-consulted and rescheduled minimally six months later, with prescriptions written for delivery. Follow-up for malignancies and immediate postoperative cases was prioritized.
The department performs an average of 40 elective surgeries a week and this number has halved since the outbreak. Only a single team of doctors operates each week. Surgeries were allowed to proceed if they were of the following nature: emergency or life-saving, suspected or known malignancy and/or procedures not requiring admission. The last criterion ensured that hospital occupancy was not affected and beds remained available for COVID-19 admissions.