Current Status of Obstetric Anaesthesia Services (OASIS); A Cross-sectional Survey of Public Hospitals in Khartoum State, Sudan

Background: Medical services in general, and anaesthetic services in particular, in Sudan have been vulnerable to changes secondary to the socio-economic factors over the last few decades. Objective: This cross-state survey aims to identify the current set up of obstetric anaesthesia services in 19 hospitals - representing all public hospitals in Khartoum State with maternity units- and audit them against internationally set standards. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional descriptive non-interventional study. Questionnaires- based on the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) Safe Anaesthesia Standards- were distributed to Anaesthetic departments’ heads at the time of the study (first to fourteenth of May 2016) of 19 public hospitals. This is the total number of public hospitals delivering obstetric services in Khartoum State. All filled out questionnaires were returned (response rate 100%). Collected information/data provided were subsequently entered into an Excel sheet and analysed. Results were tabulated. Results: There was a considerable variation in the capacity of the surveyed hospitals in terms of human resources, caseload and set up. Improper utilisation of already deficient anaesthesiologist in covering high load obstetrics services was also noticed. All the hospitals fell short of recommendations for minimum standards set by the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA). Conclusion: There is a vast gap between international set standards and the current set up of obstetric anaesthesia in Khartoum State public hospitals. Necessary concerted efforts from governmental, non-governmental and professional bodies are warranted to improve obstetric anaesthetic services in Khartoum State.