A research on:

Clinicians percep0ons of remote consulta0ons during COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Introduc0on
Telemedicine is not new to healthcare providers , going back as far as late 1950’s when it was firstly
introduced in the United States to a hospital seMng via a close-circuit television link between an
psychiatric ins0tute and a psychiatric hospital , facilita0ng consulta0ons. Since then , hospital –based
telemedicine grew exponen0ally in two par0cular areas, stroke care and intensive care.
Rupp(2017) states that the 2016 was recognized as the year of telehealth, based on the United States
federal government 16 million dollars investment into community based telemedicine , to improve
access in rural areas.
NesbiW( 2012) concludes that our healthcare system is been reshaped by the evolving informa0on
technologies and advanced telecommunica0on, facilita0ng evidence based models who can improve
access and quality of healthcare across the social and economic spectrum.
If 2016 brought wide recogni0on of telehealth in op0mizing access to care within community and rural
areas , 2020 will be remember as the year of telehealth been the prevalent way of providing remote
safe care during the Covid-19/ SARS-CoV- 2 pandemic.
The research ques0on addressed in this study is :
What are the clinicians percep0ons regarding remote consulta0ons via telephone/ video accuRx
compared to face to face consulta0ons within a general prac0ce seMng during 2020 pandemic?

This research ques0on is aiming to inves0gate clinicians percep0ons regarding telephone and video
consulta0ons within a general prac0ce seMng during 2020 pandemic and how these findings might
influence further clinical prac0ce.

Objec0ves
To evaluate the factors associated with remote consulta0ons within a general prac0ce providing
healthcare primarily to asylum seekers and refugees ie. Language barrier, cultural differences

Research design
The research design would be a single method. It would involve qualita0ve methodology .
The par0cipants will be asked to take part in focus groups and in depth interviews that will contribute
towards assessment of qualita0ve data. This interviews will enable the author to recognize any recurrent
theme that might eventually lead to satura0on of data.
The reasoning behind design method is the fact that it provides a detailed and integrated account of
the situa0on in the area of study. There might be a possibility that some of the clinicians although aware
about the advantages of using video accuRx variant of consulta0on, choose not to use it consistently due
to various factors. Therefore, following focus group semi structured interviews , detailed individual
interview data will be collected for further analysis.

Sampling
Due to the specific of the clinical seMng, the researcher would opt for a purposive sampling of the
par0cipants, such as prac0ce nurses, general prac00oners and nurse prac00oners.
The advantage of using this sampling method is that is one of the most cost effec0ve and 0me effec0ve
methods available. In this par0cular case, it is the only appropriate method available due to limited
number of primary data sources that might contribute to the study. There are disadvantages aWached
such like vulnerability to errors in judgement by researcher, high level of bias and low level of reliability

Data collec0ng
For qualita0ve method , a simple and concise ques0onnaire will be emailed to par0cipants prior to small
focus group on zoom .This will be followed by individual in depth interviews supported by recording in
audio tape of the whole interview to enable the transcrip0on for analysis.

Analysis
The data obtained via small focus group will ini0ally be transcribed and then anonymized . The
par0cipant will be allocated a personal code, role and age of the par0cipant will be coded. The interview
data will then be manually coded.

An0cipated outcomes and dissemina0on

It it expected that all clinicians are aware of the advantages of using remote consulta0ons as opposed to
face to face consulta0ons
It is also expected that the following themes will be likely to emerge from the interviews. Although
majority of the clinicians are aware about the advantages of using telephone and video accurx for
remote consulta0ons
-they choose face to face consulta0ons due to language barrier in the pa0ents popula0on
-they use telephone appointments mainly for triaging or chronic disease monitoring during pandemic
-some of the clinicians prefers to con0nue using a mix of face to face and video consulta0on for
reviewing mental health pa0ents
Results will be fed to the par0cipants and the research findings will also be submiWed to several journals
that reflect the research aim.

Ethical concerns
In this research, the par0cipants are all NHS staff and over the age of 18. Therefore the study does not
require research ethics approval , only the university ethics commiWee approval.
The researcher will also seek the Trust Research Department approval and guidance.
Confiden0ality of the data should be addressed once collected and analyzed . The research data will be
archived safely and securely weather it is electronic, video or paper based.

Time table

References