EP.TH.919Developing A Fast Track Paediatric Herniotomy Service In A District General Hospital

Introduction Previously to 2011, babies presented as emergency to our Trust with irreducible inguinal hernia at a rate of 1 baby/year. They were referred to our regional tertiary centre for surgery because there is no out of hours Paediatric Surgeon or Anaesthetist. Usually, patients were either, awaiting an appointment to see surgeon or on an 18-week waiting list. The aims of this SIP were to: expedite elective surgery for paediatric inguinal hernias, and prevent emergency paediatric inguinal hernia referrals to our tertiary centre. Method Referrals to paediatric surgical clinics were triaged by the clinic sister. Hernia referrals were expedited to the next available clinic. A provisional date for surgery was arranged ASAP with an identified surgeon and anaesthetist whilst in clinic. Patient demographics and data collected retrospectively. Results A 73% reduction in waiting time for surgery, 1 baby (1.4%) presented as emergency and was referred to our tertiary centre for surgery, the post-op complication rate fell from 6.5% to 0%. Conclusion The success of the fast-track paediatric herniotomy service at our DGH shows that it is possible to provide timely and safe surgery in a DGH in line with the recommendations of the Paediatric Critical Care and Surgery in Children Review (November 2019).

461 Surgical Telemedicine Clinic - Patient reported Outcome

Introduction To evaluate the patient reported effectiveness (PROM) of surgical telemedicine clinic (STMC) introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Method The study was registered as a quality improvement project and approved by the information governance team. This study was conducted at Darent Valley Hospital during the period between March – August 2020. Patients who were called as part of the STMC during covid-19 pandemic were contacted to provide a feedback about their experience. The study is ongoing. Herein we present our initial results. Results The target sample of 300 patients has been set. A total of 102 patients completed the questionnaire. Overall, 50% of the respondents felt the clinic performance was excellent, 28% rated this performance very good or good whilst 20% rated the clinic poor or very poor. About 80% felt reassured about their condition during the STMC. Despite the satisfactory report about the STMC, 75% reported to prefer face-to-face consultation in future. Conclusions Patients rating of the STMC was generally well received, a great majority would prefer face-to-face consultation if given an option to choose.