School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Department of Paediatrics, Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor, UK.
Ir J Med Sci. 2022 Jun;191(3):977-983. doi: 10.1007/s11845-021-02672-6. Epub 2021 Jun 7.
North West Wales is predominantly rural with a relatively small population spread over a large geographical area. The rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a radical re-thinking of how to provide continuing paediatric outpatient care in the face of a lockdown. The solution adopted was to use telephone consultations.
This study took place during the summer of 2020, after the first lockdown had been relaxed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptability of telephone consultations as an alternative to conventional paediatric outpatient appointments and assess whether it could continue to have a useful role beyond the pandemic.
Two hundred ninety-five telephone surveys were conducted with respondents, most of whom were carers of paediatric outpatients. Questions explored the child's underlying condition, respondents' attitudes towards the service received, social factors including distance previously travelled to the hospital and whether they would find ongoing telephone review acceptable or not.
Sixty-one percent of respondents expressed a positive interest in ongoing telephone consultations. They commented particularly on compatibility with work commitments, childcare arrangements and travel times. Those travelling more than 1 h were particularly positive in their support. Respondents expressed the continued need for face-to-face review if the child's condition changed acutely.
Telephone consultations are an acceptable means of improving clinic punctuality, accessibility and convenience for families in rural areas, with ongoing potential beyond the pandemic. Careful consideration is required of the individual's needs and requirement for physical examination when extending the use of telephone consultations.
威尔士西北部以农村为主，人口相对较少，分布在广阔的地理区域。COVID-19 大流行的迅速发展促使人们重新思考如何在封锁期间提供持续的儿科门诊护理。所采用的解决方案是使用电话咨询。
这项研究发生在 2020 年夏天，第一次封锁放松之后。本研究的目的是评估电话咨询作为传统儿科门诊预约替代方案的可接受性，并评估它是否可以在大流行结束后继续发挥有用的作用。
对 295 名电话调查的受访者进行了调查，他们中的大多数是儿科门诊患者的照顾者。问题探讨了孩子的潜在病情、受访者对所接受服务的态度、社会因素，包括以前前往医院的距离以及他们是否会接受持续的电话复查。
61%的受访者对持续的电话咨询表示出了浓厚的兴趣。他们特别提到了与工作承诺、儿童保育安排和旅行时间的兼容性。那些旅行超过 1 小时的人对此表示特别支持。受访者表示，如果孩子的病情突然变化，他们仍需要面对面的复查。
电话咨询是一种可以提高农村地区家庭门诊准时性、可及性和便利性的可接受手段，在大流行结束后仍有持续的潜力。在扩展电话咨询的使用时，需要仔细考虑个人的需求和体检要求。
