Millions of patient miles ‘saved’ through virtual appointments during pandemic

In January 2020, NHS England announced plans to use technology “to make up to 30 million outpatient appointments redundant, sparing patients thousands of unnecessary trips to and from hospital.”

As an example, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust said its patients travelled over two million fewer miles between April 2020 and January 2021.

Patients in the region said virtual appointments saved time, expense and the need to take someone to assist. Staff at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Trust found they could also be useful from a medical perspective.

A spokesperson from the trust said “NHS colleagues have also noticed the benefits, including our physiotherapy team who are able to see the patient’s home and any obstacles that may be affecting them, where ordinarily the patient would have to describe this.”

Only 7 per cent of appointments in the region were held virtually in 2018-19, when it started a project to reduce patient miles. This increased to nearly 45 per cent in the last year.

An increase of 175,878 virtual appointments has saved the South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust over 3.3 million patient miles in the last twelve months, and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust’s modelling suggested patients were saving 30,000 hours every month, with 160 fewer tonnes of carbon emitted.

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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