EVALUATION OF COUNTRY WIDE IMPLEMENTATION OF VIDEO CONSULTATION SOFTWARE DURING THE COVID19 PANDEMIC

ABSTRACT

Introduction During the COVID19 pandemic, TEC Cymru purchased Attend Anywhere video consulting software and made implementation and training available for all Welsh clinical services. Many services used video consulting software to reduce face-to-face contact and maintain services whilst staff were otherwise redeployed. Methods Data were collated from questionnaires from clinician and patients after their video consultation and collated by the research team at TEC Cymru. Results 654 questionnaires were collected between March 2020 and January 2022 with 42% from Cardiff & Vale. Video consultations were reported as excellent by 302 (47%). 439 (75%) of respondents reported a face-to-face visit was prevented. Most patients were white British (90.8%) and most were in the 25-44 age range (71.1%). More patients reported excellent ratings than clinicians suggesting a discrepancy between expectation. 69.7% of patients reported benefits of not taking time off work for consultations and 83.0% reported that video consultations would reduce rates of sexually transmitted infections. Further data can be presented comparing patient and clinician ratings. The responses to each patient enablement statement are presented in the attached table. Discussion Those that used video consulting during the pandemic had high satisfaction ratings and felt empowered by this mode of delivery of care. Clinician data focused on technical challenges and concern remains of those without technological capability. (Table Presented).