ArticleWorld journal of surgery2016
The Surgical Workforce and Surgical Provider Productivity in Sierra Leone: A Countrywide Inventory.
Article in World journal of surgery, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the impact of anaesthetic and surgical task-shifting globally: a systematic literature review.Health policy and planning · 2023Pooled it
- Outcomes After Elective Inguinal Hernia Repair Performed by Associate Clinicians vs Medical Doctors in Sierra Leone: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2021Trial
- Operative volume and surgical case distribution in Uganda's public sector: a stratified randomized evaluation of nationwide surgical capacity.BMC health services research · 2019Trial
- A cross-sectional study of caesarean deliveries performed by medical doctors and associate clinicians in nine district and regional hospitals in Sierra Leone using the Robson Ten Group Classification System.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Monitoring and evaluation strategies for surgical task-shifting and task-sharing interventions: a scoping review.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- Evaluating Access Improving Interventions: An Economic Evaluation of Surgical Task-Shifting for C-Sections in Sierra Leone.Applied health economics and health policy · 2025Article
- Assessment of surgical capacity and productivity in high-volume Ethiopian hospitals: mixed method study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Surgical task-sharing in Sierra Leone: barriers and enablers from provider and facilitator perspectives.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- The impact of surgical task-sharing in Sierra Leone: a nationwide longitudinal observational study on surgical workforce and volume, 2012-2023.BMJ global health · 2025Observational
- Economic evaluation of expanding inguinal hernia repair among adult males in Sierra Leone.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- The International Awareness of Breast Reconstruction.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2023Article
- Pathways to effective surgical coverage in a lower-middle-income country: A multiple methods study of the family physician-led generalist surgical team in rural Nepal.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Challenges and solutions to providing surgery in Sierra Leone hospitals: a qualitative analysis of surgical provider perspectives.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Article
- Association between ambulance prehospital time and maternal and perinatal outcomes in Sierra Leone: a countrywide study.BMJ global health · 2021Article
- Staff recognition and its importance for surgical service delivery: a qualitative study in Freetown, Sierra Leone.Health policy and planning · 2021Article
- Article
- Article
- Breast Reconstruction Practices and Barriers in West Africa: A Survey of Surgeons.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2020Article
- Surgical symptomatic knowledge among medical staff and community health workers in rural Cambodia: a descriptive study for workforce improvement.Journal of rural medicine : JRM · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLimited data exist on surgical providers and their scope of practice in low-income countries (LICs). The aim of this study was to assess the distribution and productivity of all surgical providers in an LIC, and to evaluate correlations between the surgical workforce availability, productivity, rates, and volume of surgery at the district and hospital levels.
methodsData on surgeries and surgical providers from 56 (93.3 %) out of 60 healthcare facilities providing surgery in Sierra Leone in 2012 were retrieved between January and May 2013 from operation theater logbooks and through interviews with key informants.
resultsThe Sierra Leonean surgical workforce consisted of 164 full-time positions, equal to 2.7 surgical providers/100,000 inhabitants. Non-specialists performed 52.8 % of all surgeries. In rural areas, the densities of specialists and physicians were 26.8 and 6.3 times lower, respectively, compared with urban areas. The average individual productivity was 2.8 surgeries per week, and varied considerably between the cadres of surgical providers and locations. When excluding four centers that only performed ophthalmic surgery, there was a positive correlation between a facility's volume of surgery and the productivity of its surgical providers (r s = 0.642, p < 0.001).
conclusionsLess than half of all of the surgery in Sierra Leone is performed by specialists. Surgical providers were significantly more productive in healthcare facilities with higher volumes of surgery. If all surgical providers were as productive as specialists in the private non-profit sector (5.1 procedures/week), the national volume of surgery would increase by 85 %.
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