The public's perspective on the amount of time surgeons spend operating.
Education
Global surgery
Outcomes
Training
Journal
The surgeon : journal of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Ireland
ISSN: 1479-666X
Titre abrégé: Surgeon
Pays: Scotland
ID NLM: 101168329
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
16 Apr 2024
16 Apr 2024
Historique:
received:
06
02
2024
revised:
27
03
2024
accepted:
29
03
2024
medline:
18
4
2024
pubmed:
18
4
2024
entrez:
17
4
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
As waiting lists for elective surgery grow, there seems to be a disconnect between the public's expectations on the amount of time surgeons spend operating compared with reality. On average, a surgeon in the NHS spends one day a week performing elective surgery. We aimed to investigate the public's perception on the amount of time surgeons spend performing elective surgery and what they would desire. Members of the public in the UK were approached randomly either on-line or in-person to complete an anonymised 6-question survey. The questionnaire included demographic details, surgical history, occupational experience in the healthcare sector, the number of days a week they believe and wish for surgeons to be performing elective surgery. 252 members of the public responded to the survey (150 females, 102 males). 38.5% have experience working in the healthcare sector and 58.5% have had surgery in the past. 83.7% believe surgeons spend at least 3 days a week performing elective surgery [3-4 days (43.2%), 5-7 days (40.5%)]. 45.7% of respondents want their surgeon to operate between 5 and 7 days per week. The public appears to overestimate the amount of time that surgeons spend performing elective surgery and have unrealistic expectations of how much they want their surgeons to operate.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
As waiting lists for elective surgery grow, there seems to be a disconnect between the public's expectations on the amount of time surgeons spend operating compared with reality. On average, a surgeon in the NHS spends one day a week performing elective surgery. We aimed to investigate the public's perception on the amount of time surgeons spend performing elective surgery and what they would desire.
METHODS
METHODS
Members of the public in the UK were approached randomly either on-line or in-person to complete an anonymised 6-question survey. The questionnaire included demographic details, surgical history, occupational experience in the healthcare sector, the number of days a week they believe and wish for surgeons to be performing elective surgery.
RESULTS
RESULTS
252 members of the public responded to the survey (150 females, 102 males). 38.5% have experience working in the healthcare sector and 58.5% have had surgery in the past. 83.7% believe surgeons spend at least 3 days a week performing elective surgery [3-4 days (43.2%), 5-7 days (40.5%)]. 45.7% of respondents want their surgeon to operate between 5 and 7 days per week.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSIONS
The public appears to overestimate the amount of time that surgeons spend performing elective surgery and have unrealistic expectations of how much they want their surgeons to operate.
Identifiants
pubmed: 38631982
pii: S1479-666X(24)00034-9
doi: 10.1016/j.surge.2024.03.005
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
Crown Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Declaration of competing interest None.