The Conversation – Hospitals have stopped unnecessary elective surgeries – and shouldn’t restart them after the pandemic

Adam Elshaug and Stephen Duckett

Part of Australia’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was a severe reduction in elective surgery, and so private hospitals have stood almost empty for a month now. People who might otherwise have had a procedure are experiencing “watchful waiting”, where their condition is monitored to assess where their condition is monitored to assess how it develops rather than having a surgical procedure.

The big question is whether all those procedures which didn’t happen were even necessary. There has now been a steady stream of work which suggests many procedures don’t provide any benefits to patients at all – so called low- or no-value care.

https://theconversation.com/hospitals-have-stopped-unnecessary-elective-surgeries-and-shouldnt-restart-them-after-the-pandemic-136259#new_tab