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CCU089: The impact of comorbidity, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity on waiting times for surgery before and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Safe People

Organisation name

University of Oxford

Organisation sector

3

Applicant name(s)

Antony Palmer

Funders/ Sponsors

Safe Projects

Project ID

CCU089

Lay summary

The COVID pandemic halted elective surgery. Over 7.3 million patients are now on the waiting list for elective (planned) operations and some patients have waited over 78 weeks. Delays to treatment can have a major impact on patient health, well-being and quality of life. Some patients wait longer than others, which may be because their condition is more severe, but it may be that patients from poorer backgrounds or ethnic minorities wait longer due to difficulties in accessing healthcare. The aim of our study is to find out if and how patient health, poverty, and ethnicity influence waiting times for surgery and their recovery from operations, and the impact of the pandemic on health inequality.

Public benefit statement

If we find that patients with certain health conditions, from poorer backgrounds, or ethnic minorities wait longer for surgery, we must understand why this inequality exists. NHS policy must then find ways to fix any inequality of access to care and ensure waiting times for surgery are fair across the country. Visit the BHF Data Science Centre website for more detailed information about project outputs. https://bhfdatasciencecentre.org/projects/ccu089/

Technical summary

This project accessed the following datasets within the Trusted Research Environment(s) for CVD-COVID-UK / COVID-IMPACT: - ENGLAND: - Civil Registration - Deaths - Emergency Care Data Set (ECDS) - GPES Data for Pandemic Planning and Research (COVID-19) - Hospital Episode Statistics Accident and Emergency - Hospital Episode Statistics Admitted Patient Care - Hospital Episode Statistics Outpatients - Medicines dispensed in Primary Care (NHSBSA data) - Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) - Secondary Care Prescribed Medicines (EPMA)

Other approval committees

Project start date

03/11/2024

Project end date

02/11/2026

Latest approval date

15/12/2024

Safe Data

Dataset(s) name

Data sensitivity level

De-Personalised

Release/Access date

15/12/2024

Safe Setting

Access type

TRE

Safe Outputs

Link to research outputs