COVID-19 Organisational Survey Report Round 2

British Thoracic Society COVID-19 Organisational Survey Report Round 2 highlights the need to prioritise respiratory service planning for future pandemics.

Today BTS publishes a follow-up to its 2020 COVID-19 Organisational Survey Report which found that the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to organisations providing respiratory treatment and care across the four nations and hindered the services they were able to provide. The second BTS COVID-19 Organisational Survey Report contacted respiratory leads in 216 institutions whose services faced disruption during the pandemic. The Report analyses the impact of increased preparedness when comparing the first (2020) and second (2021) waves.

Comparing the findings between the two surveys reveals that:

• Existing services that were majorly impacted in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic significantly recovered by the second wave. However, those providing face to face outpatient care and Pulmonary Function Tests in particular, still suffered significant impact.
• Clinical workforce resource across all services was found to be either moderately or severely limited.
• The granting of additional funding to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic was more common during the second wave.
• There was a significant increase in the number of Respiratory Support Units (RSUs) formed when compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The capacity to continue both COVID-19 and non-COVID clinics and services at a normal pre-pandemic level of activity was more than twice as likely in the second wave than the first wave.
• Most respondents felt that despite introducing a range of pandemic-inspired strategies, their organisation lacked a sufficiently robust plan for managing the following winter.

Taken together, the findings from the two surveys highlight  that pre-2020, Respiratory Medicine services were insufficiently prepared for a pandemic and services were hughly impacted during the first wave.   Learnings following the first wave wwere  increasingly and successfully used to mitigate the negative impacts on services during the second wave. Nevertheless, there remain a range of areas that require addressing if we are to truly strengthen our respiratory services for response to future pandemics.

Dr David Connell, co-author of the report, commented:

“We found various deficiencies in the national readiness of respiratory medicine for a pandemic, and further consideration is needed to address future pandemic preparedness in this critical area of the response.

“Lung function testing, local leadership, and inadequate resourcing for departmental workload were identified as three specific areas that need proper consideration going forward. Both waves of the COVID-19 pandemic required significant adaptability by the respiratory workforce, and their experiences must inform future pandemic preparedness plans and the potential solutions for areas that did not do so well.”

Professor Wei Shen Lim, co-author of the report, commented:

“The findings of this survey draw attention to the need for ongoing preparation in the UK for future respiratory pandemics.

“The differences we found between the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are highly informative, and we saw the risks and pitfalls of inadequate preparedness. If we take the lessons we have learned from this pandemic, perhaps next time, from the outset we could have respiratory services that are more able to respond rapidly , limiting disruption and risk to patients.”

Dr Paul Walker, Chair of BTS, commented:

“Prioritising respiratory service planning cannot be something that drops to the bottom of our to-do list. We know the stress and strain the response to the COVID-19 had on our respiratory workforce, and we need to ensure they have the right resources and support going forward.”

Today’s survey report shows that respiratory leads across the UK feel that respiratory services are still not adequately equipped to prepare for future pandemics. Leaders are called to respond and action learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. Not doing so risks patients with respiratory illnesses not getting the specialist care they need.

ENDS.