1101 Patient Experiences of Teleconsultations Follow-Up After Cancer Surgery Within the National Health Service. a Qualitative Systematic Review
B Klaud Francheska, R Lee, G Oni, E Wilson- Surgery
Abstract
Background
Teleconsultations were introduced for cancer surgery follow-up to ease pressure on hospital services and facilitate patients’ access to those services. Currently, there is limited evidence of patients’ perception of the swift shift in service provision.
Aim
This qualitative systematic review aimed to explore patient experiences of teleconsultations within UK-based NHS cancer surgery follow-up services; to better understand patient perception, satisfaction, and acceptability of the teleconsultation approach.
Method
MEDLINE, EMBASE, PUBMED, and Google scholar were searched up to the 1st of January 2022. Articles were screened by two independent reviewers and qualitative studies were synthesized using the Braun and Clarke framework. Concepts identified were summed up into relevant themes and subthemes.
Results
A total of 1226 articles were screened, of which six were retained after full-text screening and quality assessment. The main findings revealed three overarching themes: accessibility, patient experience, and consultation. Most patients reported a positive experience with remote consultation, although others had uncertainties about its effectiveness due to the inability to build rapport with clinicians and the lack of emotional support.
Conclusions
Teleconsultations were widely accepted among cancer surgical patients. More research is needed to explore clinicians’ views of teleconsultations in cancer surgery and audits should be carried out to evaluate the system currently in place.