CASE STUDY MidCentral
who, in some cases, is trained to do physical examinations. MidCentral DHB was doing just under 400 telephone and video appointments a month last November. This jumped to nearly 2200 in April during the national lockdown and has since gradually dropped to 550 in August 2020. Hardie says the cancer service collects data in its own booking system, which previously did not completely integrate with the hospital system, so the DHB’s numbers prior to July 2020 do not tell the whole story. The Covid-19 crisis highlighted this as an issue and work has completed to integrate the systems. “Covid-19 has really helped us to push forward the telehealth agenda,” she says. “Before, people were quite sceptical about how it would work and whether patients would accept it. What Covid has shown is what telehealth can offer in terms of flexibility and options.”
MidCentral DHB has established a telehealth project group to develop it as a regular service and choice for patients and clinicians. Radiation oncologist Claire Hardie says, “we are working on a project to ensure we are going to meet the needs of our patients and clinicians with options for telehealth and how to ensure patients have the accessibility they need”. While a telephone appointment is relatively easy to provide, a video conference involves more technology and potentially cost to patients. “We are working through making it sustainable, ensuring we have the infrastructure at our end to book the appointment and the capability of our patients to access it,” she says. The DHB is also looking at how community groups may be able to support patients in telehealth closer to home, rather than giving devices to patients themselves. “We’re working through how that might look and the partner agencies we might engage with,” Hardie explains. Hardie is based at Palmerston North Hospital and she and her colleagues in the cancer and haematology service had been using video conferencing for patient appointments for some time before the pandemic hit with video links to New Plymouth, Hastings and Masterton hospitals.
Radiation oncologist at Palmerston North Hospital, Claire Hardie
Patients are accompanied by a nurse at the telehealth clinic
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TELEHEALTH OCTOBER 2020 : : 12
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