LSE Principal Investigator: Rocco Friebel
Start Date: 2023
End Date: 2024
Funder: University of Oxford
Region: Global
Keywords: Paediatric surgery; equipment; costing 

Scope

Despite being acknowledged as a crucial element of universal health coverage, access to surgery remains limited in low- and middle-income countries. This situation poses a significant threat to the health and economic well-being of the affected populations. One major factor contributing to this problem is the insufficient availability of instruments, equipment, and supplies in hospitals at all levels of healthcare in these countries. To address this issue, the Global Initiative for Children Surgery has developed the Optimal Resources for Children’s Surgical Care guidelines (ORECS). These guidelines provide comprehensive information on the necessary supplies, equipment and infrastructure required to deliver essential surgical care for children. The guidelines are organised based on hospital-level and anaesthesia sub-specialty.

Objective

The objective of this project was to determine the cost of equipping hospitals at all levels to ensure the provision of optimal surgical care for children, utilising the ORECS guidelines as a reference. The project calculated the regional reference cost for each item specified in the ORECS, thus facilitating a comprehensive understanding of the financial requirements associated with the recommended equipment. Additionally, on-going costs per annum (including maintenance and extra costs for the disposable and single use items) were assessed to provide insights into the cost burden for sustaining the ORECS standard across hospitals.