The public's perspective on the amount of time surgeons spend operating

Background: As waiting lists for elective surgery grow, there seems to be a disconnect between the public's expectations on the amount of time surgeons spend operating compared with reality. On average, a surgeon in the NHS spends one day a week performing elective surgery. We aimed to investigate the public's perception on the amount of time surgeons spend performing elective surgery and what they would desire. Methods: Members of the public in the UK were approached randomly either on-line or in-person to complete an anonymised 6-question survey. The questionnaire included demographic details, surgical history, occupational experience in the healthcare sector, the number of days a week they believe and wish for surgeons to be performing elective surgery. Results: 252 members of the public responded to the survey (150 females, 102 males). 38.5% have experience working in the healthcare sector and 58.5% have had surgery in the past. 83.7% believe surgeons spend at least 3 days a week performing elective surgery [3–4 days (43.2%), 5–7 days (40.5%)]. 45.7% of respondents want their surgeon to operate between 5 and 7 days per week. Conclusion: The public appears to overestimate the amount of time that surgeons spend performing elective surgery and have unrealistic expectations of how much they want their surgeons to operate.