Over the next few months we are sharing the ways we are reducing demand on our services by strengthening out-of-hospital care, supporting people to live well in their communities and helping patients to access the right care in the right place at the right time.

As part of our plans to see more patients, meet increasing demand and reduce delays for patients, we are using new approaches to deliver services to patients and improve outcomes. ​

One example of this is our virtual fracture clinic which supports patients after first presenting at a Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) or Emergency Department (ED).

Traditionally, all patients with fractures were seen face-to-face in our fracture clinics, which are held at RD&E (Wonford), North Devon District Hospital and some community hospitals. To help us manage increasing demand and reduce waiting times, we introduced virtual fracture clinics in our Eastern services in November, which run alongside our face-to-face clinics.

How does it work?

Patients with a fracture or soft tissue injury that meet specific clinical criteria are offered a telephone appointment to discuss the fracture with the clinical team. They are given advice and follow up information via patient resources.

All virtual clinic patients are provided with clinical guidance within 72 hours of their referral. Most patients are contacted within just 24 hours.

If during the appointment the clinician or patient feels that they need to be seen face-to-face, we will arrange a face-to-face appointment.

To support patients after the appointment, they are managed via patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU). Patients are advised on what to look out for during their recovery and if they have any concerns they can contact us and we will book them in for an appointment. This gives patients timely access to care when they need it.

Benefits to patients:

• Patients receive care more quickly – patients of our virtual fracture clinic can get advice within 24 hours instead of waiting for potentially two weeks for a face-to-face appointment. For patients needing face-to-face appointments, we now have more capacity in our clinics to see them quickly.
• Excellent patient experience - 100% of patients said that they were satisfied with the service and were happy with a telephone appointment instead of a face-to-face appointment. Patients tell us that it’s more convenient because they don’t have to take time off work or school to travel to an appointment.
• Reduced environmental impact and saving patients money - with 30% of fracture clinic referrals being followed up virtually, over a full year this would reduce travel miles by approximately 28,000 miles, saving our patients money on fuel and parking and saving over 9,946 KG of CO2 emissions.

Celia Wogan, Lead Extended Scope Practitioner, said: ”Patients tell us that it’s more convenient, because they don’t have to take time off work, or school to travel to an appointment. 

It means they get advice more quickly, to help them understand and manage their injury more efficiently. It is helping us meet the ever-increasing demand in fracture clinic, so it’s positive all round.”

There are plans roll out virtual fracture clinics in our Northern services in the next couple of weeks.

Pictured above are team members including Celia (centre)