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We read the article by Dr Dobler1 with great interest as we have encountered similar uncertainties with our FY2 placements in general practice during the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. The article neatly describes the trainees’ perspective, and as part of the FY2 rotation we undertook a large scale survey of the patients’ perspective at two training practices in Blackburn, East Lancashire in October 2020. The practices serve a combined total population of approximately 5,000 patients. This survey was circulated to all patients at the two practice sites electronically.
Overall, n=720 patients participated in the survey reporting their experience of teleconsultation since the beginning of the pandemic. Reassuringly, 84% reported a positive experience with teleconsultation. 64.9% found it easy to get an appointment, and 43.2% even found the new system superior to the pre-covid system. 72.5% said they had not been deterred from accessing healthcare due to the new appointment system. We also evaluated patient feedback on their experiences with video consultations and text messages as a means of communication. In October 2020, only a small proportion of respondents (3.5%) had experienced video consultation, however, 22.9% had had received text messages as part of their consultations. The satisfaction was much higher with the text message service at 72.3% in comparison to video which only resulted in 46.2%.
Overall, despite the well documented challenges that have impacted upon the health service during the pandemic, the enforced use of telemedicine and smart phone messaging tools have been embraced and the experiences have generally been positive for both patients and clinicians. There is therefore no doubt that telemedicine is here to stay in some form as an effective consultation modality in general practice. A balance is required and it is inevitable that there will be a swing back towards more face-to-face appointments as the pandemic crisis eases in the coming months. We too would agree that it must be added to the foundation doctors curriculum and have more emphasis in general practice specialty training curricula moving forwards to support telemedicine delivery during GP placements.
Reference
1. Dobler E. General practice during COVID-19: an FY2’s perspective. Br J Gen Pract 2020; 28;71(702):25.