Service Evaluation Audit of Virtual Outpatient Clinics in the Post-COVID-19 era

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed outpatient clinic services which now involve virtual (telephone/video) rather than face-to-face consultations. For both new clinic patients or follow-up patients after a recent emergency admission, these changes may impact on their perceptions and confidence in The outpatient service. The aim of this service provision audit is to ascertain both patient satisfaction and confidence in virtual consultations in our unit. Method(s) A retrospective evaluation of all General Surgery virtual clinic appointments between January and March 2021 was undertaken. Patients were contacted for feedback about their surgical consultation based on questions from The National Health Service Outpatient Department Survey (2011). Result(s) In total, 151 patients were contacted. Overall satisfaction regarding telephone consultations was significantly higher when compared to survey results of face-to-face appointments in The pre-COVID era. The majority of patients were confident (51%) or confident to some extent (27%) of being listed for Surgery without further examination. only 8% of patients were not confident at The way Surgery was explained and 10% were not confident of The risks of surgery. Finally, more than a third were not happy to be discharged from clinic following a telephone consultation. Conclusion(s) Follow-up appointments are an integral part of The patient journey following an emergency admission. The COVID-19 recovery phase has necessitated a service reconfiguration towards virtual appointments. We show that patients were satisfied with virtual consultations, although further quality improvement should be undertaken to ensure outpatient discharge is satisfactory for all patients following an emergency admission.