A District General Hospital Trauma Service Response to COVID-19: Lessons Learnt

Objective: This article seeks to evaluate and outline the changes made to the trauma and orthopaedic department in a district general hospital in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic. We detail the approach in relation to surgical management, workforce optimisation and our general reflections as a department. Methods: We interviewed, collated and have subsequently described the adaptations implemented by our department. We have collected their shared strategy and reflections on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected our department. Results: Alterations were implemented to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. A strategy focused on ensuring the workforce remained healthy, and patient care pathways were altered as minimally as possible. Conclusions: As a unit, a sense of heightened vigilance needs to remain for the foreseeable future. Decisive action by departmental leadership, alongside a cohesive and open, has allowed for our trauma service to continue largely unchanged. This analysis serves as an important aide-memoire for future periods of extreme uncertainty.