Dr. Brian James an anaesthetist from the Bustamante Hospital for Children, has indicated that increased efforts are being made in reducing the backlog of surgeries which had developed as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.

This response comes after several elective surgeries have been put on hold due to the influx of COVID-19 hospitalizations. As a result of this suspension, the waiting time for these surgeries spanned for two years.

Dr. James also underscored that on average, over 3100 surgeries would be undertaken at the institution, however since the genesis of the COVID-19 pandemic, elective surgeries were scaled down by 55 percent.

“We’d normally do about 3100 surgeries at Bustamante per year and during the pandemic we went down to about 55 percent. In 2019, we did 3129 surgeries and that was cut to one thousand four hundred and three in 2021; it just goes to show the amazing effect of the pandemic on our operation ” he explained.

Dr. James also highlighted that a distinct plan was made to conduct at least 20 surgeries as a part of a labour project. These surgeries include pediatric hernias found at the navel or at the groin.