Patient satisfaction with head and neck cancer telephone triage service during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a District General Hospital

Abstract Aims A head and neck cancer telephone triage pathway was implemented in March 2020 using the Head and Neck Cancer Risk Calculator as part of the 2 week wait cancer referral pathway. This was in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to stream cancer referrals to minimize unnecessary interactions and appointments with health services. The aim of this study is to assess patient satisfaction with the telephone triage system via a customised patient satisfaction questionnaire in the setting of a district general hospital. Methods A custom designed patient satisfaction questionnaire covering different facets of the patient experience will be used to measure patient satisfaction. These 16 questions (including open ended questions) are adapted from internally validated questionnaires. All continuous new head and neck cancer referrals to Torbay Hospital over two 6 week periods will be analysed, the first at the inception of the telephone triage service and the second several months later. The focus is on patient satisfaction towards the method of delivery of the telephone triage service rather than the content of delivery. Results and Conclusions Data collection is ongoing at the moment and preliminary results suggest that patient satisfaction is mixed, with a proportion of patients being unsatisfied that they did not get an examination, and a larger proportion of patients satisfied with the easier accessibility and safety of the service in the midst of the pandemic.