Impact of COVID-19 on Obesity Management Services in the United Kingdom (The COMS-UK study)
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Impact of COVID-19 on Obesity Management Services in the United Kingdom (The COMS-UK study) Osama Moussa 1,2 & Roxanna Zakeri 2 & Chanpreet Arhi 3 & Mary O’Kane 4 & Vanessa Snowdon-Carr 5 & Vinod Menon 6 & Kamal Mahawar 7 & Sanjay Purkayastha 1 & On behalf of the PanSurg collaborative (COVESITY) Received: 11 July 2020 / Revised: 18 September 2020 / Accepted: 23 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) has had a severe impact on all aspects of global healthcare delivery. This study aimed to investigate the nationwide impact of the pandemic on obesity management services in the UK in a questionnaire-based survey conducted of professionals involved in the delivery. A total of 168 clinicians took the survey; the majority of which maintained their usual clinical roles and were not redeployed except physicians and nurse specialists. Nearly all (97.8%) elective bariatric surgery was cancelled, 67.3% of units cancelled all multidisciplinary meeting activity, and the majority reduced clinics (69.6%). Most respondents anticipated that the services would recommence within 1–3 months. This study found that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the services involved in the management of patients suffering from severe, complex obesity in the UK Keywords Pandemic . Obesity . Bariatric surgery . COVID-19
Introduction Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory disease caused by the novel Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that reached pandemic status. While COVID-19 affects all groups, the risks of severe pathology and mortality appear higher in the older population and those with underlying comorbidities.
* Osama Moussa [email protected] 1
Division of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London W2 1NY, UK
2
Department of Surgery, University College London Hospital, London, UK
3
Department of Surgery, University Hospital Lewisham, London, UK
4
Department of dietetics, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
5
Clinical Psychology, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds, UK
6
Department of Bariatric surgery, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry, UK
7
Department of Bariatric Surgery, Royal Sunderland Hospital, Sunderland, UK
Since the UK Health and Social Care Act reforms of 2012, obesity management has been restructured within the UK NHS; hence NHS England and the Department of Health have issued guidelines regarding the commissioning of care for severe and complex obesity. A 4-tier model of care is accepted [1] increasing stepwise from community weight management, to finally bariatric surgery, as appropriate. Both the specialist weight management (commonly known as tier 3 services) and bariatric surgery services (tier 4 services) have multidisciplinary teams (MDT) delivering specialised care to this group of patients. [1, 2] The COVID-19 pandemic has had a challenging effect on all healthcare systems. It is essential to quantify the loss of elective services to be a
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