Bariatric surgery during COVID-19 in the UK: a British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) survey

BACKGROUND: After the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic last March 2020, several adjustments in surgical services were implemented. Plans are now being formulated for restarting bariatric surgery. The aim of this survey is to capture the practice during the pandemic and the readiness to restart to provide a framework to deal with the backlog of bariatric cases. METHOD: A survey was delivered to consultant surgeon members of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society and non-bariatric surgery consultant members of the Association of Upper GI Surgeons. RESULTS: The survey elicited a response rate of 40% (n = 66) among bariatric surgeons and 15.5% (n = 34) between non-bariatric surgeons. The average question response rate was 93% (88–100%). Most of the elective bariatric surgeries and clinics were cancelled early after declaration of the pandemic. Remote technologies for patient education evolved and were used heavily during the pandemic. The average cancelled elective bariatric surgery operations per week was 9. Nearly a quarter of responders reported performing emergency bariatric surgery during the pandemic. Most of the bariatric surgeons reported being ready to restart the service within 1–2 months. Responders recommended using private sector beds to increase NHS capacity and using the link between obesity and poor COVID-19 outcomes to push for prioritisation of bariatric patients. CONCLUSION: This survey is an attempt to understand the impact of COVID-19 on UK bariatric service and the preparedness to restart. It expressed the bariatric surgery consultants’ view of prioritisation of bariatric patients on clinical basis rather than the first-come-first-served basis.