In response to the health crisis, it is the responsibility of clinicians to audit and collaborate in order to observe the impact of the pandemic on clinical practice. With the restructure of the health infrastructure, there is likely to be changes to the nature of acute referrals to Trauma and Orthopaedics, operative and anaesthetic casemix, polytrauma and open fractures as well as the role of technology to reduce viral transmission. Patient safety ought to be prioritised at all times but a national narrative is required to equip healthcare services to counter the pandemic at various time intervals post-social distancing and lockdown at 1.5, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months. This will act as an audit to compare and contrast if the reconfiguration of healthcare services is abiding by the governmental, DoH, NHS, WHO, RCS and BOA (BOAST) policies and guidelines.
The COVERT Collaborative is led by a group of academic surgeons that is looking into the impact of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic on Trauma and Orthopaedic practice. This will involve both trauma and elective procedures, as well as mortality rates, operative and anaesthetic case mix. The information will help to shape service reconfiguration and enhance patient-specific treatment especially in the threat of potential subsequent waves and future pandemics.