354 Virtual Consultation in Vascular Practice: The New Normal

Abstract

Aim Face to face vascular clinics were suspended at a major trauma centre at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, however Royal Stoke Hospital Vascular team were still undertaking emergency vascular operations. Consequently, virtual telephone consultations were set up and delivered to facilitate post-operative follow ups. The objective of this improvement study is to compare the virtual clinic documentation against The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS Eng) Best Practice Guidance on Conducting Virtual Consultations, which was published in June 2020. This is important as good documentation is vital to patient care as well as being a medico-legal document. Method We retrospectively identified 30 vascular patients operated between May 2021 and June 2021; 10 of which had had a virtual telephone clinic and the majority underwent an amputation. We audited the clinic note documentation against the RCS Eng guidelines. Results Total of 9 RCS Eng guidelines were identified and audited. The first cycle revealed poor areas in documentation of the surgeon introducing themselves, confirmation of patient details, obtaining consent to proceed, summary of consult and plan discussed. Findings were presented at the trust governance meeting. Areas which required improvement in documentation were highlighted. In addition to education of surgeons, it was decided to introduce a checklist as a requirement. Conclusions Clinic note documentation is of paramount importance as it has legal and medical ramifications. The education of surgeons and introduction of a checklist to ensure compliance with RCS Eng guidelines and we will re-audit to ensure improvement.