Types of consultations offered
During the COVID-19 crisis some forms of patient care can be delivered via remote consultations to protect both patients and healthcare professional during periods of social isolation. Guidance is given below and further information from your respective insurers .
Medical Governance - The need for remote consultations will be based on clinical need, patient guardian choice and professional judgement. Remote consultations will be treated with the same professional approach as face to face consultations, requiring patient consent, shared decision making, information sharing and continuity of care. The Hospital has been setting up Zoom as preferred and secure option (in case of logistic/IT issues, other options include MS Teams; while FaceTime and WhatsApp consultations are possible but not advised by hospitals in the UK if other options exist). Telephone consultations are also available for follow-up appointments of results and amendments to prescribed treatments or information letters.
Record keeping / patient communication – Remote consultations are still considered full consultations and will be recorded and invoiced appropriately. Patients will receive correspondence that ensures they have all appropriate information about their care, in a format that they understand including test results and next steps. We will discuss the options available to you in a way you can understand. Experience from national medical and insurance societies indicate that remote consultations tend to be more time consuming than face to face consultation. Please ensure in advance that you are connected to a reliable wifi connection and provide contact details for alternative forms of contact (eg alternative mobile phone and landline numbers).
Repeat consultation – For patients attending frequent repeat consultations and are self-paying, please ask our secretaries at the time of booking if special discounts apply upon consultant discretion, which need to be agreed prior to consultation.