RESUMO
(1) Background: The large global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has overloaded the public health systems and reduced the regular healthcare activity, leading to a major health crisis. The main objective of this study was to carry out a comparative evaluation of the healthcare activities in the hospitals of Eastern Andalusia, Spain. (2) Methods: In this study, an observational, multicentered, and retrospective approach was adopted to compare the healthcare activities of the Poniente Hospital (PH) and the Alto Guadalquivir Health Agency (AGHA). Data was collected over a period of 24 months, i.e., from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2020, and the variables evaluated were: patients seen in the hospital emergency service (HES), X-ray tests performed, patients cited in outpatient consultations, surgical interventions performed, and patients included in the waiting list. (3) Results: The analysis of the above-mentioned variables revealed a significant reduction in the number of patients registered in 2020 at HES as compared to that in 2019 for both PH (p = 0.002) and AGHA (p < 0.001). Moreover, the number of surgical interventions in 2020 was significantly reduced from that in 2019 for both PH (p = 0.001) and AGHA (p = 0.009). Moreover, for PH (p < 0.001), a significant reduction was observed in the waiting list admissions in 2020 compared to that in 2019; however, no significant difference in the waiting list admissions between the years 2020 and 2019 was observed for AGHA (p = 0.446). In 2020, the number of teleconsultations was significantly increased from that in 2019 for both PH (p < 0.001) and AGHA (p = 0.006). (4) Conclusion: The analysis carried out indicates that in 2020, compared to 2019, healthcare activity was significantly reduced in most of the parameters included in this study.
RESUMO
Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Spain, almost 22% of healthcare professionals have been infected. Among the main causes are exposure during the care of suspected patients and asymptomatic patients, which caused a greater lack of protection in some cases, and to the global shortage of personal protective equipment due to the strong demand for it. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a teleconsultation protocol with patients who had respiratory symptoms in the reduction of the consumption of personal protective equipment (PPE) in a hospital emergency service (HES) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a descriptive and retrospective study that analyzes the implementation of a teleconsultation protocol with patients with respiratory problems treated in the HES at the Hospital de Poniente (Almeria), between 18 March and 30 April 2020. In the selected study period, 5353 patients were treated in the HES of the Hospital de Poniente; of these, 15.43% showed respiratory symptoms and were referred to the Respiratory Circuit, of which 42.2% did so via teleconsultation. Sixty-six cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed, 57.6% were male, and the median age was 71 years old. The main disease related was pneumonia (89.4%), symptoms more frequent were cough (77.3%), fever (77.3%), and dyspnea (60.6%). Lastly, 56.1% of the patients that attended had one or more comorbidities, high blood pressure (53%), and diabetes (36.4%), which became the main risk factors. The results showed that the implementation of teleconsultation in the HES reduced the possibility of infection and allowed for a more efficient consumption of personal protective equipment.
