A Review of Telephone Urological Follow-Up in a District General Hospital During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 has had an unprecedented effect on healthcare with certain services being altered to minimise face-to-face contact. This aim of this project was to explore opinions on routine telephone consultations and whether they could be implemented as COVID pressures change. We randomly selected 100 patients who had a telephone consultation instead of their normal urological follow-up and posted them a questionnaire. We also compared the number of consultations and non-attendances with the pre-COVID era. Seventy percent of patients replied to the questionnaire, and 79% wanted to continue with telephone appointments. Eighty-two percent felt that despite COVID-19, their urological care was unaffected. Generally, the reason that telephone appointments were unacceptable for patients was a preference for face-to-face interaction. The majority expressed a lack of enthusiasm for potential video consultations with only 43% interested in this. Over 95% of patients who required investigations still had these tests performed. There was a reduction in patients who ‘did not attend (DNAs)’ from 7.5% prior to COVID-19 to 3% during the peak of the pandemic. This study has demonstrated our patients’ satisfaction and acceptance of remote consultation and its efficiency in reducing missed appointments during the pandemic. It is now an option our patients can now choose as their mode of follow-up.