The Colorectal Telephone Clinic: a new normal post-COVID-19?
Ann R Coll Surg Engl
; 103(7): 520-523, 2021 Jul.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1288675
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
In light of the COVID-19 recommendations from the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, we aimed to study patient and clinician satisfaction with a newly established telephone (TP) colorectal clinic service in lieu of traditional face-to-face (FTF) appointments. Comparative outcomes included patient versus clinician satisfaction; patient versus clinician desire to continue TP clinics postpandemic; and views of Specialty Trainee 3+ (ST3+)/Specialty Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors versus consultants on TP compared with FTF appointments.METHODS:
We conducted a prospective service evaluation of patient and clinician satisfaction with colorectal surgery TP clinics between 1 June 2020 and 30 June 2020 in a British District General Hospital.RESULTS:
Patients had higher satisfaction than clinicians with TP clinics 91.5% versus 66.6% reported above-average experience [odds ratio (OR) = 5.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.53 to 18.75, p = 0.01]. Clinicians had lower demand to continue TP clinics post-COVID-19 versus patients, with a trend towards significance (60% versus 82.9%, OR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.97, p = 0.08). ST3+/SAS doctors were more likely than consultants to find TP clinics inferior to FTF consultation for patient assessment (48.3% versus 23.7%, OR = 3.00, 95% CI 1.17 to 7.71, p = 0.03).CONCLUSIONS:
While clinicians may be concerned that patient assessment suffers, patient satisfaction with TP clinics is high. There should be a place for TP clinics post-COVID-19 but there must be a robust process for patient selection as well as adequate training for current and future generations of clinicians.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Telephone
/
Colorectal Neoplasms
/
Remote Consultation
/
COVID-19
/
Medical Oncology
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Ann R Coll Surg Engl
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Rcsann.2020.7070
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