BackgroundThe National Health Service (NHS) is currently over stretched and over-burdened [1,2] with an ongoing challenge to match capacity to demand [3]. The number of outpatient clinic appointments is growing, leading to delays, dissatisfaction, and non-compliance with national guidelines [4]. With rising pressures on primary care, the NHS Long Term Plan (2019) supports the development of digitally enabled services to replace the unsustainable growth of current outpatient care, with the aim to reduce unnecessary faceto-face ((FTF) appointments [5]. Virtual clinics (VCs) are one way of achieving this goal, and have been deemed safe, cost-effective, and associated with high levels of patient satisfaction [3,6-8].While the use of VCs in orthopedics has become increasingly popular over the past decade, literature surrounding the topic is scarce. Research has primarily focused on virtual fracture clinics (VFCs) replacing traditional FTF fracture pathways [7-9] with some mention of joint arthroplasty follow-ups being replaced by virtual orthopedic clinics (VOCs) [4,[10][11][12]. King D, et al [13] report that VCs should be considered as one part of the musculoskeletal pathway but that the paradigm for delivery is still evolving.Although guidelines and protocols provide a framework for professionals to follow and recommendations of how healthcare should be delivered [14], to-date, there are no standards pertaining
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