The benefit of introducing a virtual trauma assessment clinic during a global pandemic

Abstract

Sars-CoV2/COVID-19 pandemic created a national emergency in Ireland. Our institution implemented a virtual trauma assessment clinic to reduce attendance to our district hospital which was stimulated by the development of ‘safe-distanced’ care. The audit aimed to evaluate the impact of our trauma assessment clinic on care provision and presentation to hospital. All patients were managed according to the newly implemented virtual trauma assessment clinic protocol. Data was prospectively collected over a 6.5 week period from 23rd March 2020 to 7th May 2020. These referrals were reviewed  twice weekly by a Consultant-led multidisciplinary team.

142 patients were referred to the virtual trauma assessment clinic. Mean age of referrals was 33.04 years. 43% (n=61) were male patients. Overall 32.4% (n=46) of new referrals were discharged directly to their family doctor. 30.3% (n=43) were discharged for physiotherapy follow up. 36.6% (n=52) required presentation to the hospital for further clinical review and 0.7% (n=1) was admitted for surgical intervention. Overall, this represents a reduction of 63% of patients attending the hospital.

A simple virtual trauma assessment clinic model resulted in significant reduction in unnecessary attendance at face-to-face fracture clinics enhancing patient and staff safety during a global pandemic. This virtual trauma assessment clinic model has allowed the mobilisation of staff to assist with other essential duties in other areas of our hospital without compromising care.