Patient experiences of face-to-face and remote clinics in a cystic fibrosis service – what can we learn?

Clinic flow at the Wessex adult cystic fibrosis service was recognised to be sub-optimal with patients spending on average 36% of their total clinic time waiting to see the next clinician. Changes had been made to improve the clinic experience for patients and clinicians and following these changes an initial questionnaire was completed in 2019 to explore patients’ views of the face-to-face clinic experience. Results were analysed from the first questionnaire but before further changes could be implemented the COVID-19 pandemic began and almost all clinic appointments became remote appointments. A second questionnaire was completed in July 2020 to understand the patients’ perceived advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face and remote clinics. A total of 25 adults with cystic fibrosis completed the 1st questionnaire and 48 completed the 2nd questionnaire. Participants reported advantages and disadvantages to both types of clinic appointment and neither type of appointment offered the perfect solution. A majority of participants (71%) were happy to continue with remote clinic appointments in the future with some participants keen for a hybrid approach of face-to-face and remote appointments. The feedback from both questionnaires has provided clinicians at the Wessex adult cystic fibrosis service with the opportunity to further improve the current clinic experience and to give patients a greater choice of clinic appointment type which also meets their clinical and personal needs.