Secondary Care – Customer Area

“It’s definitely helping patient care and avoiding unnecessary admissions.” Read Dr Mo Sahebjalal’s case study.

 

“It is great fun, you get to think about clinical problems that you may not always appreciate, you talk to bright energetic GPs, it doesn’t take much of your time, what is not to like?” Read Dr Davey’s case study.

 

“Without this phone conversation it is likely that the referral would have been through the standard route and could have taken many months during which time she would have been at risk of stroke and may have died from her narrowed aortic valve.” Read Dr Guallar & Dr Davey’s case study.

 

“By speaking with the specialist directly in the presence of the patient, I felt that he was more involved directly in his care and decision process and felt comfortable that the advice we were giving was appropriate. From my point of view it felt like a more ‘connected’ approach without the divide between primary and secondary care.” Read Dr Ross & Dr Davey’s case study.

“Benefits include the ability to inform referral pathways and give fast feedback to GPs regarding advice and guidance. It’s a good teaching resource for trainees and dermatology registrars with case image bank and for training as this will now be included in the new Dermatology curriculum.” Read this short interview with Dr Mauri-Sole, an Associate Specialist and Clinical Lead for Dermatology.

“I was speaking to one of my consultant colleagues (who previously didn’t want to be on the rota) and he told me how much he enjoys taking the calls, it gives him a ‘nice warm feeling at the end of the day’ that he’s actually supported some GPs and some patients.” Read this short interview with Dr Steve Jackson a Consultant and Chief Medical Information Officer.

 

“Give it a try, the benefit to the patient is only one of the values of the service. The passive education and knowledge sharing with the caller will hopefully become applicable to many more patients who present to them with similar clinical conditions.” Read Dr Varadarajan Baskar’s case study.

“I think the service is a really good idea. Having a detailed conversation often allows us to divert an elderly patient away from an acute admission to a more appropriate setting for them, for example a home visit or an outpatient appointment.” Read Dr Barnes’ case study.

“Junior Doctors working in the Emergency Department can speak to their senior consultant colleagues before admitting or discharging a patient. Dr Ronald writes that this prevents ‘inappropriate admissions and, importantly, inappropriate discharges.” By streamlining the process in this way, doctors at the hospital provide a “safer discharge process’ whilst also ensuring that NHS resources are correctly allocated to those who most need them. This improves patient care and reduces strain on the department.” Read Dr Julie Ronald’s case study.

 

“The ability to record the content of calls and access data (regarding call volumes and sources) has been a vital addition to our prof-to-prof service. Call records enable immediate ‘listen back’ which provides crucial clinical governance in reviewing decision making and also provides a valuable educational opportunity in training staff in remote clinical decision support. Logging call volumes enables accurate resource management and contributes to job planning.” Read our short interview with Dr Ron Cook.

“I really enjoy using Consultant Connect. I’m asked questions I can easily answer, helping improve patient care and the gratitude of colleagues boosts my mood. I take about 15 GP calls per week and in any case it is a pleasure to talk to caring intelligent doctors who just need simple advice to move care forward.” Read our short interview with Dr Shmueli.

“It is very helpful to patients, GPs and us as secondary provider consultants. And in a very short time, patients get timely advice / treatments and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. It is not time consuming (for us) and it’s very easy to use and is educational to the GPs as well.” Read our short interview with Dr Akbar.