ORCHARD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Optimising Remote Consulting and Home Assessment of medically vulnerable Rural patients During unscheduled and planned primary care – Assessing feasibility of the ORCHARD Intervention
IRAS ID
310499
Contact name
Peter Murchie
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study will try to find out how possible it will be to supply vulnerable patients that live in the country with a Medical-Self-Assessment-Box. The box contains equipment to use at home during telephone and video consultations (telemedicine) with medical staff. This includes GPs and other healthcare professionals. COVID-19 has increased the number of consultations done remotely. We think this increase can be continued and improved. We believe improved consultations can make things better for vulnerable patients that live in the country even after the end of the pandemic. We hope to improve these patients’ appointments by training them to measure and report important parameters. These will include blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen levels. However, before we carry through a large study, we must clarify three things: First, we need to show that medically vulnerable rural patients can be issued with a Medical Assessment Box and shown how to use it properly. Second, we need to find out if patients can use the equipment successfully during telemedicine appointments. Third, we need to show that we can measure how well the equipment is working. We can do this by counting how often the equipment is used and if use is appropriate and helpful. We will give questionnaires to participants to measure quality of life and anxiety/depression. Finally, will access the participants’ clinical records to collect more information about their contacts with the healthcare system (visits to GP, telemedicine consultations, hospitalisation, out of hours calls etc). The knowledge we will gain will give us the information we need to develop a funding proposal to evaluate if equipment given to vulnerable rural patients is helpful, in the whole of the UK.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SW/0151
Date of REC Opinion
28 Oct 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion