GLOBAL SURGERY INITIATIVE BY PEDIATRICS SURGERY TEAM OF HOSPITAL WANITA DAN KANAK-KANAK SABAH, AN AUDIT

GLOBAL SURGERY INITIATIVE BY PEDIATRICS SURGERY TEAM OF HOSPITAL WANITA DAN KANAK-KANAK SABAH, AN AUDIT

Naveena Thiyagaraja1 , Muhammad Syukri Othman2 , Vebster Jaffrey1 , Muhammad Faris Zulkifli3 , Sharifah Abdullah4 , Kalyani Mariapan5 , Deanne Sazaieka Putri Sallahuddin6 , Angie Lawrence7 , Meryem Irfan Unal1 , Muhammad Fadli Abdullah1 , Hazlina Mohd Khalid1 , Mughni Bahari1

1 Department of Paediatric Surgery, Hospital Wanita dan Kanak-kanak Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 2 Department of Surgery, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bharu 3 Department of Surgery, Hospital Tawau, Sabah 4 Department of Surgery, Hospital Lahad Datu, Sabah 5 Department of Surgery, Hospital Duchness of Kent, Sandakan, Sabah 6 Hospital Beaufort, Sabah 7 Department of Surgery, Hospital Keningau, Sabah Aim: Sabah being the second largest state and house the third largest population in Malaysia still struggle to provide adequate essential surgical care for her citizen. Factors such as logistics, financial issues and lack of interest among medical personal to serve in Sabah still remain as the main challenges to provide the bare minimum of essential surgical care. Pediatrics surgery department (PS) of Hospital Wanita dan Kanak-kanak Sabah (HWKKS) is the only center providing elective and emergency neonatal and pediatric surgical services across Sabah and Union Territory of Labuan. In accordance with the Global Surgery 2030, we have established visiting clinic in main districts around Sabah and Labuan conducting elective and emergency surgeries, apart from consultation. This audit is aimed to study the diversity of cases that have been encountered during visiting sessions. Methods: This was cross-sectional study undertaken by HWKKS’s PS team between January 2022 till December 2022 where both emergency and elective cases done in addition to number of clinic consultations by our team during visiting were reviewed. Results: Throughout 2022, 77cases were done in 6 district hospitals. Of it, 11% were emergency surgeries while the rest were daycare procedures and elective surgeries equally. It is also noted, a significant number of major surgeries as well as neonatal surgeries were done. Conclusion: GSI has ensured that children across Sabah have access to essential surgical care irrespective of their socioeconomical status. Although there are limitations for the cases that can be done during visiting, this has significantly reduced the waiting time for patient and financial burden for parents, ensuring no child is left out from obtaining essential surgical care. It also aid in reducing the long waiting list and ensuring more complicated case are prioritized at HWKKS