Circumcision During The Covid-19 Era In A Northern Ireland Health And Social Care Trust (hsct): Are We Meeting National Waiting Time (wt) Targets?

Circumcision During The Covid-19 Era In A Northern Ireland Health And Social Care Trust (hsct): Are We Meeting National Waiting Time (wt) Targets?

Charles Oluwabukunmi Ojo , Laura Mcauley
Southern Health and Social Care Trust, Portadown and Newry, United Kingdom

Introduction: The Department of Health, Northern Ireland (DoHNI) asserts that in all HSCT, more than 55% of patients booked for “day-case procedures” should receive their treatment within 13 weeks and over 98% of cancer patients with a “decision-to-treat”, should begin treatment within 31 days.

Aim: To determine if our HSCT circumcisions were meeting DoHNI waiting time targets (WTT).

Methods: Following clinical governance approval, we reviewed medical records of all circumcisions performed within the Southern HSCT, Northern Ireland between October 2024 and March 2025. (n=50). We assessed the interval between “date of booking” and “date of surgery” and compared this to DoHNI WTT.

Results: 50 circumcisions were booked as day-case procedures. (49 for non-cancer reasons versus 1 as treatment for penile cancer). 67% of circumcisions booked for non-cancer reasons met the 13 weeks WTT. The only circumcision booked to treat penile cancer met the 31 days WTT. The longest WT was 3 years and 7 months which was circumcision booked for non-cancer reasons – coinciding with onset of COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion: Although Southern HSCT met DoHNI WTT, there is room for improvement. Whilst COVID-19 pandemic may still be responsible for long WT, hospital/ administrative factors cannot be ruled out. Results were shared at the HSCT departmental meeting to identify strategies to improve circumcision waiting times. We encourage countries all over the world to audit their surgical WT and where delays are identified, implement strategies to ensure essential procedures are delivered timely – supporting global efforts towards Sustainable Development Goal 3 as well.

Keywords: Circumcision, waiting time target, Department of Health Northern Ireland, Day-case procedure, penile cancer, Southern Health and Social Care Trust