An evaluation of 1 year of advice calls to a tropical and infectious disease referral Centre

Wingfield, Tom ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8433-6887, Beadsworth, Mike, Beeching, Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7019-8791, Gould, Susan, Mair, Luke and Nsutebu, Emmanuel (2020) 'An evaluation of 1 year of advice calls to a tropical and infectious disease referral Centre'. Clinical medicine, Vol 20, Issue 4, pp. 424-429.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Many secondary care departments receive external advice calls. However, systematic advice-call documentation is uncommon and evidence on call nature and burden infrequent. The Liverpool tropical and infectious disease unit (TIDU) provides specialist advice locally, regionally and nationally. We created and evaluated a recording system to document advice calls received by TIDU.

METHODS
An electronic advice-call recording system was created for TIDU specialist trainees to document complex, predominantly external calls. Fourteen months of advice calls were summarised, analysed and recommendations for other departments wishing to replicate this system made.

RESULTS
Five-hundred and ninety calls regarding 362 patients were documented. Median patient age was 44 years (interquartile range 29-56 years) and 56% were male. Sixty-nine per cent of patients discussed were referred from secondary healthcare, half from emergency or acute medicine departments; 43% of patients were returning travellers; 59% of returning travellers had undifferentiated fever, one-third of whom returned from sub-Saharan Africa; 32% of patients discussed were further reviewed at TIDU. Interim 6-month review showed good user acceptability of the system.

CONCLUSIONS
Implementing an advice-call recording system was feasible within TIDU. Call and follow-up burden was high with advice regarding fever in returned travellers predominating. Similar systems could improve clinical governance, patient care and service delivery in other secondary care departments.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	W General Medicine. Health Professions > W 83 Telemedicine (General) W General Medicine. Health Professions > Health Services. Patients and Patient Advocacy > W 84 Health services. Delivery of health care WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 680 Tropical diseases (General) WX Hospitals and Other Health Facilities > WX 100 General works
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > Clinical Sciences Department Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department Education
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmed.2019-0201
Depositing User:	Julie Franco
Date Deposited:	29 Jul 2020 10:29
Last Modified:	16 Jul 2021 01:02
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/15157

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