885 Telephone Consultations During the Covid-19 Pandemic; from the Perspective of One Oral and Maxillofacial Unit

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a global impact on healthcare. As a result, changes have been made to healthcare provision. In the UK, the focus was changed to urgent and emergency treatment only, and therefore a shift from face-to-face consultations to video and telephone consultations was implemented. Our aim was to look at the telephone consultations in our oral and maxillofacial (OMF) department to identify their effectiveness. Method A search was carried out using the electronic patient record for patients booked for consultations in the OMF clinics from the 23rd of March to the 1st of May 2020. Trauma clinics and ad-hoc clinics were excluded. Results 21 clinic codes were found as suitable for inclusion. 185 consultations were booked during the 6-week period. Of these, 165 were via telephone and 20 face-to-face. A total of 75 consultations resulted in discharge and 110 required further follow up or further investigation. Of the 75 patients discharged, 73 of these were via telephone. The main reason for discharge was delivery of benign biopsy results. Conclusions Covid-19 will have long term impacts on healthcare provision. If implemented correctly, virtual consultations carry the potential in making healthcare more accessible.