Virtual clinic for following up children with long term ventilation and complex respiratory needs

Introduction: The paediatric long-term ventilation and complex respiratory care team is responsible for care of 231 children including 75 on long-term ventilation. These children need regular reviews, aimed at preventing infection and hospital admissions and maintaining optimal lung health. Due to their multiple issues, it is difficult for parents to bring them to hospital frequently for follow up appointments. We organised virtual clinics to review these children. A multidisciplinary team (respiratory consultants and trainees, specialist nurses, physiotherapists, psychologist, admin and speech therapists) attends these clinics. Aims: To assess the utility of virtual clinics in management of children with long-term ventilation and complex respiratory needs, and effect on parental and staff satisfaction Methods: We reviewed the data from our virtual clinic between May 2017- December 2018. Data on parental and staff satisfaction were collected. Results: During the 20 month period (May 2017- December 2018), 504 patients were discussed in weekly virtual clinics. Various aspects assessed in these clinics included pertinent microbiology, recent sleep studies and decisions on weaning home oxygen, and review of emergency management plans. Parents were updated on virtual clinic outcomes. Staff and parental satisfaction improved following the introduction of virtual clinic. Conclusion: Virtual clinic ensured timely reviews of our patient cohort and helped us to improve care of children in the community, this improved both parental and staff satisfaction.