Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38924079›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

How ready is the health care system in Northeast India for surgical delivery? a mixed-methods study on surgical capacity and need.

Amrit Virk, Rebecca King, Michael Heneise, Lanuakum Aier, Catriona Child, Julia Brown, David Jayne, Tim Ensor

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Amrit VirkGlobal Health Policy Unit, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-8686-2776
Rebecca KingNuffield Centre for International Health and Development, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Michael HeneiseFaculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Teacher Education, Department of Archaeology, History and Religious Studies, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-6115-5183
Lanuakum AierThe Highland Institute, Kohima, Nagaland, India.
Catriona ChildThe Highland Institute, Kohima, Nagaland, India.
Julia BrownSchool of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
David JayneSchool of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
Tim EnsorNuffield Centre for International Health and Development, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0003-0279-9576

Funding

NIH HHS 16/137/44
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSurgical services are scarce with persisting inequalities in access across populations and regions globally. As the world's most populous county, India's surgical need is high and delivery rates estimated to be sub-par to meet need. There is a dearth of evidence, particularly sub-regional data, on surgical provisioning which is needed to aid planning. AIM AND

methodThis mixed-methods study examines the state of surgical care in Northeast India, specifically health care system capacity and barriers to surgical delivery. It involved a facility-based census and semi-structured interviews with surgeons and patients across four states in the region.

resultsAbdominal conditions constituted a large portion of the overall surgeries across public and private facilities in the region. Workloads varied among surgical providers across facilities. Task-shifting occurred, involving non-specialist nursing staff assisting doctors with surgical procedures or surgeons taking on anaesthetic tasks. Structural factors dis-incentivised facility-level investment in suitable infrastructure. Facility functionality was on average higher in private providers compared to public providers and private facilities offer a wider range of surgical procedures. Facilities in general had adequate laboratory testing capability, infrastructure and equipment. Public facilities often do not have surgeon available around the clock while both public and private facilities frequently lack adequate blood banking. Patients' care pathways were shaped by facility-level shortages as well as personal preferences influenced by cost and distance to facilities. DISCUSSION AND

conclusionSkewed workloads across facilities and regions indicate uneven surgical delivery, with potentially variable care quality and provider efficiency. The need for a more system-wide and inter-linked approach to referral coordination and human resource management is evident in the results. Existing task-shifting practices, along with incapacities induced by structural factors, signal the directions for possible policy action.

Indexed as

Delivery of Health CareAdultFemaleHealth Services AccessibilityHealth Services Needs and DemandHumansIndiaMaleMiddle AgedSurgeonsSurgical Procedures, OperativeWorkload

Identifiers

PMID38924079
PMCPMC11206862

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.