Initial impact of COVID-19 on paediatric spinal services in Scotland

Abstract

COVID-19 has affected many National Health Service Scotland services. Our aim is to describe this impact on the Scottish National Spine Deformity Service (SNSDS). All referrals to the SNSDS from 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 were analysed and compared with the same period in 2019. There was a 64.3% decline in referrals during the pandemic to the SNSDS. The mean waiting time to be seen in first clinical appointment for a new referral was 6.5 weeks in 2020 compared with 10.9 in 2019. There were 60 patients still waiting to be seen at the end of the study period.