NEWS: Virtual hospital consultations during COVID-19 pandemic
Diabetes clinic patient James Mepham speaks with Professor Melanie Davies during a video patient clinic.
Over nine hundred telephone and video consultations are being delivered from Leicester’s Hospitals every day.
Figures issued by the University Hospitals Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust reveal the big changes that have taken place since the coronavirus pandemic was declared.
Three weeks prior to lockdown, 98.2 percent of consultations were face-to-face[1]. However, as the scale of the crisis became apparent, hospital staff quickly mobilised to support patients in the most vulnerable categories, through the offer of virtual appointments.
Eight weeks later, face-to-face consultations had dropped by half[2], with the majority of consultations now taking place over the telephone and a number of appointments have also taken place via video. By the week ending 3 May, video consultations made up 10 percent of all appointments, a percentage that is likely to continue to increase[3].
The Trust has taken the opportunity to pilot video consultations in areas as broad as haematology, dermatology and general surgery. In other areas, such as diabetes, staff rapidly set up virtual clinic software to conduct video consultations with patients. Not only could they deliver a virtual clinic experience and provide valuable clinical care, patients were spared the need to travel into hospital and meet face-to-face with staff and other patients, reducing their risk of contracting the new coronavirus.
Professor Melanie Davies, consultant in diabetes medicine at Leicester’s Hospitals, said:
“Patient safety is the first thought in anything we do. From talking to patients, we understand that being able to continue with a clinic, virtually, has meant so much for them. The immediate transition from ‘in-person’ clinic to ‘virtual’ means the team can reassure our patients that we are still here and can continue to support them. In some ways it has changed the consultation experience, as we find that patients tend to be more relaxed in their own home.”
During one of the virtual clinic sessions, patient James Mepham shared his experience:
Caroline Wilson is a diabetes specialist nurse at Leicester’s Hospitals and has shared consultations with Professor Davies also commented:
“To be able to continue the important clinical care for people with diabetes during the pandemic has made a real difference to my patients. Due to the shielding advice, they can feel quite isolated at home and the virtual sessions have given them the vital support they need, which is a positive step.”
Jane Edyvean, Outpatient Transformation and Reconfiguration Programme Manager at Leicester’s Hospitals, said:
“We are rapidly setting up more telephone and video appointments so our clinical teams can continue to provide essential care for our patients as we recover from the pandemic. We are in the process of evaluating different solutions from both the patient and staff perspective so we can provide a range of options for delivering high quality virtual outpatient appointments in the longer term.
“Whether it’s by telephone or video, patients are already telling us some of the benefits they have experienced. These include being in the comfort of their own home and in an environment they can control, and that ‘going virtual’ means they can fulfil their appointments without having to take lots of time off work and undertake long journeys.”
Source Data – UHL Performance team, 2 March, 2020
Source Data – UHL Performance team, 4 May, 2020
Source Data – UHL Performance team, 4 May, 2020
MyDiabetes resource
Visit our MyDiabetes resource page, which has helpful information to support you with managing your diabetes.