Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ENT department at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital introduced the use of 'Attend anywhere' which is a virtual platform that is used by medical professionals to carry out clinics remotely. It ensures confidentiality between the physician and the patient, as well as practicing social distancing. We assessed the number of patients seen in the virtual clinic, the conversion rate of virtual to face-to-face appointments and technical issues with Attend Anywhere. Method: We carried out a 3-month retrospective data collection on patients seen in the Attend Anywhere clinic. We accessed their clinical records using the Welsh Clinical Portal system. The outcome for each patient was documented. We also assessed any technical issues with the platform. Results: 305 patients were scheduled to be seen on the platform. Of the 305, 264 attended their appointment. 4 of the patients required urgent medical attention and were subsequently scheduled for urgent face-toface appointment within the 24 hours. 19 patients had technical issues with the Attend Anywhere platform, and 14 of them were subsequently converted to telephone consultations. The issues were not specifically documented, but connectivity to webcam was a common recurrence. 70 patients were safely discharged from the ENT department Conclusions: The introduction of the Attend Anywhere virtual clinic has greatly helped prevent a backlog of patients waiting to be seen by the ENT team. 26% of patients were safely discharged back to the GP. The results with the virtual clinic platform are promising and could be a new practice for the NHS.
Attend anywhere: the virtual clinic for routine ent consultations