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. 2020 Oct;7(3):e85-e87.
doi: 10.7861/fhj.2020-0092.

Establishing a remote clinical advice service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Samuel Burrows  1 , Claire Asby  1 , Sarah E Ibitoye  1 , James Dodd  1 , Andrea Joughin  1 , Amy Crees  1 , Zoe Jones  1 , Katie Rainey  1
Affiliations

Establishing a remote clinical advice service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Samuel Burrows et al. Future Healthc J. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Service redevelopment has taken place across the NHS in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At North Bristol NHS Trust, six vulnerable medical staff in non-patient facing roles set up a virtual advice service called 'Ask the Medical Reg'. This service aimed to provide senior medical support to inpatient and community teams for general medical and COVID-19-related queries. Here we outline the structure of our service and present data from the first 4 weeks of operation. We describe how the service has supported both junior doctors working within the hospital and GPs and paramedics, helping with complex decisions to prevent unnecessary admissions.

Keywords: coronavirus; delivery of healthcare; frailty; remote consultation; telemedicine.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Calls to the ‘Ask the Medical Reg’ advice line per week categorised by a) referrer and b) theme. NBT = North Bristol NHS Trust.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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