Telemedicine during COVID-19: a survey of Health Care Professionals' perceptions

Abstract

The National Health Service (NHS) has rapidly adopted telemedicine solutions as an alternative to face-to-face consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of HCPs (Healthcare Professionals) were unfamiliar with Telemedicine prior to the current pandemic. Remote consultation is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, thus we designed this survey. A survey designed to evaluate the use of telephone consultation by HCPs, assessing its implementation, challenges and drawbacks. A web link survey conducted through SurveyMonkey was sent to HCPs across six UK Trusts the period of May 2020. The survey received 114 responses (84%) being doctors. 95% of respondents had not received training prior to engaging in telemedicine consultations. 64% were unaware of the updated General Medical Council guidance concerning remote consultations. The most common barrier in remote consultation was the inability to access patient records raised by 37% of respondents. However, 73% of respondents felt that patients understood their medical condition and the instructions given to them over the phone, and 70% agreed that videoconference consultations would add to patients care. Telemedicine can be used for selected groups of patients in the post COVID-19 era, and the HCPs carrying that should have the sufficient experience and knowledge expected to operate these clinics.