1294 Online Education for Patients Undergoing Elective Orthopaedic Surgery During A Global Pandemic

Introduction lective hip and knee joint replacement patients at the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) are required to attend the ‘Hip and Knee Joint School’. This is an award-winning patient education programme. Pre-pandemic, it was a day at the hospital dedicated to introducing patients to the specifics of a hip and knee joint replacement surgery. This takes the patient from the process of anaesthesia to post-operative ward care. Method Due to the virulent transmission of COVID-19, strict social distancing rules have been implemented. Therefore, it was decided that converting the joint school into online videos would be the best medium for patient education. Various healthcare professionals contributed to the videos included orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthetists, specialist nurses, healthcare assistants, occupational therapists, and physiotherapists. Results Eleven videos were filmed, edited, and approved by the trust’s communications team. These included, ‘Introduction to the Joint School’, ‘You and your surgery’, ‘Leading up to your operation’, ‘Your Operation Journey’, ‘Introducing the Anaesthetist’ ‘Total Hip Replacement Surgery’, ‘Total Knee Replacement Surgery’, ‘Post-op Wound Care’, ‘Your Safe Discharge Home’, ‘FAQ’s’ and ‘COVID-19 Green Pathway’. Conclusions The global pandemic has driven innovation and novel ideas in medicine. We have seen similar changes in our trust with the online patient education videos being a prime example. This joint school was originally started in our trust, but now as it had been converted to videos, we believe that it can be modified and used across all trusts in the NHS.