Virtual Oncology Clinics in Ireland See Success

As the COVID-19 pandemic has continued, there is more clarity when it comes to those who are the most at-risk for the virus. Age is a central factor but beyond how old the person is, people with pre-existing conditions are at risk for COVID-19. Depending on how dire the illness is, the risk is higher. Cancer is not only a pre-existing condition, cancer patients are immune-compromised. Since there is a risk for cancer patients when it comes to the virus, virtual oncology clinics have been set up in Ireland to great success. This goes for all appointments that don’t need to be done in person. Telemedicine has been pushed forward during the pandemic, which has led to more effective virtual treatment.

Remote Treatment & Guidelines

When COVID-19 hit the United Kingdom, the NHS made guidelines for remote medical treatment. These guidelines determine that any appointment that doesn’t have to be done in person, meaning that when there are no physical examinations or blood taken that it should be done remotely with virtual video conferencing. Particularly relating to consultations with medical professionals, there is no reason to put people at further risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus when it can be avoided. It’s pretty simple. Whenever physical contact can be avoided, it should be. While this is helpful to prevent further transmission of the virus, it also provides peace of mind for people going through diseases like cancer.

Virtual Oncology Clinics

One of the changes that have been made in medicine is taking oncology clinics and making them virtual. The people who have cancer are immunosuppressed and high-risk. To avoid putting them at risk for the COVID-19 virus, doctors have created virtual clinics where patients can get consultations over video conferences. Sometimes patients just need to talk to a doctor about their symptoms, pain, and other intricacies of their disease. If this is the case, there is no reason to meet in person and potentially expose them to the virus. According to the experts in patient safety McGinley Solicitors, which works with personal injury claims, these virtual options also help doctors and other personnel at higher risk to avoid exposure to COVID-19 as well. While some have worried about the effectiveness of these virtual clinics, most patients like them and have shown success when studied.

Study & Patient Response

Oncologists in Ireland have begun studying the effectiveness of virtual clinics. In one study, patients were surveyed to see how they felt about the remote visits. From 104 patients who completed surveys, 58 percent of them said they were equally or nearly as satisfied with virtual clinics when compared to an in-person appointment. Furthermore, 82 percent said that they felt there should be a role for virtual clinics in the future and 61 percent said they were very relieved to avoid hospitals and potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Still, it begs the question why weren’t these numbers higher?

The major drawback of virtual consultations with doctors is that when there is bad news, patients may not get the same emotional support they would get from doctors and medical personnel in the room. There is something emotionally missing from video conferencing, but overall the practice of virtual clinics has been effective.

Beyond Oncology

Oncology is just one sector of medicine that has moved many of its appointments online. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a lot of the world to advance its technological capabilities. Medicine isn’t the only field that has begun utilizing video conferencing and other forms of technology to overcome these challenges. Education, law, and even bureaucratic offices are using modern tech to beat the physical limitations of the pandemic. While millions of people have died from the virus, the pandemic has undoubtedly pushed the world to advance and eliminate costly and time-wasting practices in favor of remote and online methods.

Even after the pandemic comes to an end, these online tech methods will be utilized to make our world more efficient and effective. While it is tough to see the silver lining of the COVID-19 situation, there are opportunities to progress in ways that we were not making use of before this. It is crucial to make good out of the bad and telemedicine is one way to do that.