Giving GPs cameras to photograph skin complaints could help slash wait times for hospital appointments according to a new service evaluation from the University of East Anglia.
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An innovative service involving more than 3,000 patients saw GPs sending high resolution images of skin problems to dermatologists to review.
The results show that the service led to a faster resolution for patients and prevented many people from having to wait to see a hospital consultant.
Dermatologists were able to reply to over 90 per cent of queries within 36 hours and they responded to all queries in under 72 hours.
Almost two thirds of patients could be treated in primary care, meaning they didn’t have to go onto a long waiting list, typically around 10 months, to see a hospital dermatologist.
But some patients were upgraded to see a consultant urgently – within two weeks.
The team now hope the service will be rolled out across the UK to help treat patients more efficiently and reduce wait times.
Dr Julii Brainard, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Patients see their GPs about a range of skin conditions including rashes and spots that have changed in size and shape. In many cases, GPs need to refer patients to dermatologists – but wait lists to be seen can be long.
“We wanted to see if uploading photos and patient history details to a specially designed platform, to be assessed by dermatologists remotely, could help reduce patient waiting times.â€
Doctors at surgeries in the Norfolk and Waveney area carried out electronic consultations with hospital dermatologists about skin conditions that would normally be referred as non-urgent.
A special communication platform was created so that the GPs could share high resolution images of the skin area affected along with a patient history to begin a dialogue with consultant colleagues.
Dermatologists could then give a quick diagnosis, ask for more information or agree that they should see the patient in person.
This project was led by the University of East Anglia in collaboration with North Norfolk Primary Care and NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group. The evaluation was funded by UEA Health and Social Care Partners. ■