Abstract
Aims
Surgical Hot Clinic (SHC) is an acute emergency service for management provided on an outpatient basis in the United Kingdom. Following the start of global Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and as per the statement released by the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI), we modified SHC service to mainly provide telephonic follow-up with an occasional face-to-face service.
Methods
After developing a local pathway for SHC services during COVID-19 lockdown, a quality improvement audit was conducted from 30th March till 26th May 2020. Through this pathway, telephonic consultation carried out in most patients while for selective face-to-face consultation designated Medical Ambulatory area used. The analysis then performed using SPSS version 20 to assess the serviceability of modified hybrid SHC.
Results
Among 149 patients, 54(36.2%) were male, and 95(63.8%) were female, referred during Coronavirus lockdown. Out of these 149, 87(58.3%) referred from Accident & Emergency (A&E), 2(1.3%) from GP, 9(6.04%) after scan through radiology department while 51(34.2%) after discharge from hospital. Out of those who have telephonic consultation (n = 98), 12 patients were called in for review with either blood tests or further clinical examination. In total, only 10 out of 149 patients required admission to the hospital, either for intervention or symptomatic treatment.
Conclusion
Hybrid surgical hot clinic (HSHC) with both telephonic & face-to-face consultation, as per requirement, is flexible, effective and safe patient-focused acute surgical service during COVID-19 like a crisis.