• Ruth Kieran, Catherine Murphy, Eileen Maher, Jemma Buchalter, Sue Sukor, and Scheryll Alken.
• Department of Medical Oncology, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. kieranr@tcd.ie.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2023 Feb 1; 192 (1): 334033-40.

BackgroundVirtual clinics were introduced to our practice in March 2020. We aimed to assess outcomes from virtual clinics and to assess staff views on them and their barriers to implementation nationally.MethodsWe prospectively assessed outcomes from 53 planned virtual consultations in a cancer centre oncology outpatient department (April-July 2020). Thirty-two oncologists completed an online survey.ResultsVisit durations ranged from < 5 min (n = 2, 4%) to 30 + min/patient (n = 9, 20%) (median: 18 min (range 4-141, IQR 10-30 min)). Median time spent preparing for patients who did not attend (n = 6, 11%) was 15 min (range 9-15 min). Most patients were scheduled for routine follow-up (n = 41, 87%), with some planned for an early in-person visit (n = 3) or investigation (n = 3). Where bloods had been requested (n = 25), samples had often not been taken (n = 20, 80%) or results were unavailable (n = 3, 12%). Different plans may have been agreed with two patients (4%) had they attended in-person. Virtual visits were perceived as faster by most doctors in the online survey (n = 26, 84%), with some (n = 5, 16%) reporting a difference of 10 min per patient. Many (n = 13, 42%) arranged earlier follow-up appointments. Low satisfaction was associated with difficulty with patient assessment (81%) or communication (63%), resource limitation (48%), or poor access to results of investigations (40%). The majority (n = 21, 67%) do not feel their virtual clinic quality is as good as in-person.ConclusionsIf virtual clinics are to play a long-term role in oncology, it is essential to monitor clinic quality and plan visits proactively.© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.

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