SURGICAL HOT TELEPHONE CLINIC: A SAFE ALTERNATIVE TO FACE-TO-FACE HOT CLINIC

Abstract

Introduction: With increasing patients presenting to the accident and emergency department, the use of virtual clinics has shown promising results in medicine to help safely review these patients while avoiding admissions. These clinics often use the same staff and resources being utilised by theemergencyadmission team – this is especially true in the surgical admissions unit. We present data showing that Virtual Clinics (VC) are safe alternatives, improving patient service and relieving a significant burden on the acute surgical units. Method: Baseline assessment of the virtual clinic was carried out over a 4-week period, between 23rd December 2020 and 19th January 2021. The virtual clinic reviewed 78 patients within this 4-week time period. Parameters for data collection included admission dates, scan date, call-backs, diagnosis, referral patterns, readmission rates and eventual outcomes for those who needed surgical interventions. Reassessment of practise was undertaken in August 2021 following the introduction of a registrar led electronic virtual clinic. Results: Assessment of practice showed that 83% of assessed patients had radiological imaging within 72hours with 89.7% of these scans having reports generated on the same day. Following incorporation of an electronic virtual clinic, 112 patients were reviewed over a 4-week period. Results showed a similar trend in terms of frequency of scans requested with zero failed discharges from the service. Conclusion: The virtual clinic provides a safe and efficient method for the review and management of ambulatory patients in whom semi- urgent investigation is needed but admission is not necessary.