Video consultations - public and clinician views: consultation summary

Near Me public engagement outcomes report

Key findings

• Over 5,000 people responded to the public engagement and consistent themes emerged across all types of feedback received
• Strong support for the use of video consulting was found: 87% of the public and 94% of clinicians thought video consulting should be used for health and care appointments, providing it is appropriate for the consultation
• The public stated a small preference for use of video over phone consulting both during periods of physical distancing for Covid-19 and afterwards
• Health professionals identified a clear preference for using video consulting within the ongoing management of conditions, rather than in undifferentiated diagnosis
• The public and clinicians identified a wide range of benefits and some barriers of using video consulting
• Main benefits identified: improving access and convenience, and reducing the risk of infection
• Main barriers identified: digital connectivity (and other issues relating to digital exclusion) and lack of private space for video calls
• Service providers should stop making generalised assumptions about the groups of people who can or cannot use video consulting