Perioperative leaders' experience of COVID-19 in Aotearoa: a qualitative interview study

Once it became apparent that COVID-19 would reach Aotearoa New Zealand, perioperative services responded urgently to contain viral spread, keep staff safe and maintain patient care. We aimed to understand how perioperative leaders around the country responded to the pandemic, their experiences, reflections and the lessons learnt. Our goal is to inform future pandemic responses.

We undertook a qualitative study with thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews. We recruited perioperative leads involved in the COVID-19 response using snowball sampling, following initial contact with anaesthetic and surgical department heads.

We interviewed 33 perioperative leads from 16 of the country's 20 district health boards, with representation across hospitals of different sizes and the professional groups working in operating theatres. Four main themes were identified from data. These were: "no one source of truth," with prolific, constantly changing information, limited initial support from hospital senior executives, and siloed approaches and tensions between departments and professional groups; resourcing challenges attributed to limited baseline preparedness and increased workload; deficiencies in PPE and physical facilities; staff stress and anxiety, and the impact this had on workforce capacity; ongoing preparedness for future waves; and reflections on "lessons learnt". These lessons focused strongly on communication, caring for staff, collaboration, downtime to enable preparation, and a need for external, potentially national co-ordination and resources to facilitate planning.

Perioperative leaders' experiences and reflections of COVID-19 paint a picture of limited prior preparation or planning for a pandemic, requiring an immediate pivot from routine care to emergency response. In an environment of uncertainty, information overload and staff stress hospital leaders worked to obtain resources, maintain staff safety and engagement, develop new systems and in some cases, create new facilities. Sharing the experiences and lessons learned about communication and collaboration, policy development and staff training may go some way to facilitate a smoother implementation of a pandemic response the next time around.