NHS electronic consultations being piloted in Coventry and Warwickshire

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT) is testing electronic e-consultations at three of its services to speed up appointment waiting times, and provide an alternative way of accessing services.

The services piloting e-Consultations are:

• Integrated Sexual Health Services
• Improving Access to Physiological Therapies
• Primary Mental Health Team, known as RISE

Patients wanting an appointment at the services will now have an option to opt for an e-consultation, meaning the appointment can take place over a videocall; similar to Skype or Facetime.

Chief Nurse and Chief Operating Officer, Mel Coombes at CWPT, said: “Since launching the trial in December we are finding this system is helping people from many different walks of life access our services in a new way.

“People lead busy lives and can sometimes struggle to attend appointments with the time pressures of work, family and other commitments. By offering e-Consultations, it can fit around anyone’s schedule, because they can choose to seek advice at a time and place that suits them.

“Once we have completed the pilot, we will then review how well the services worked, with the hopes of rolling it out across the whole Trust in the future.”

E-Consultation can be accessed through a free app that can be downloaded to a  smartphone or tablet. The pilot is due to end in June 2020.