Doctors demand to work from home and diagnose patients by ‘computer on wheels’

NHS hospital consultants have demanded the right to work from home as doctors claimed patients can be assessed via a “computer on wheels”.

The British Medical Association (BMA) conducted a review into the Government’s handling of the pandemic and said it “failed in its duty of care” to doctors during the crisis.

However, the report also highlighted some “practical positive changes” to the health service over the past two years, including the chance for staff to work remotely.

“The ability of some doctors to work remotely at certain times in the pandemic should be acknowledged, and a hybrid working model for doctors more seriously considered within the UK health service,” the BMA said.

Responding to a survey, more than one fifth (22 per cent) of doctors said that remote working was one of their top three solutions “to address the long-term impact of the pandemic on the workforce”.

‘Remote working helped to stem burnout’

In one case study cited in the report, a GP said: “Remote consultant ward rounds on a computer on wheels worked well for shielding consultants, and the use of remote working had also helped to stem burnout hugely, especially for parents.”

Two hospital consultants at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, south Wales, completed their ward rounds in June 2020 from home, via a computer with a camera which was wheeled up to patients by junior doctors.

One of the doctors told Wales Online at the time he was able to diagnose patients virtually using the system.

In another example, GPs in Cumbria assessed care home residents remotely after staff wore virtual headsets which recorded the patients from the bedside.

The BMA said that an assessment of “long-term remote work” should now be considered.

“This would, first and foremost, require the provision of adequate IT equipment and the incorporation of remote working skills in relevant training packages,” it said.

The report came as waiting lists for hospital treatment reached 6.4 million in March, according to the most recent official figures.

Some 16,796 people in England have been waiting two years to start routine hospital treatment, six times the number waiting that long in April 2021.

Earlier this year, NHS England announced plans to treat up to 25,000 hospital patients at home via “virtual wards” to help clear the backlog.

Under the plans, consultants and GPs would review patients via digital platforms and over the phone. Patients could also be provided with wearable devices to track their recovery.

A national target of 40 to 50 virtual beds per 100,000 population, the equivalent of 25,000 beds across England, was set for the next two years under the Government’s “Living with Covid” plan.

Another GP cited in the BMA report said: “Remote consultation really helped to show how much can be achieved without a face-to-face appointment.”

GPs fall out of favour among public

However, public satisfaction with GP services fell to the lowest level on record last year, according to the British Social Attitudes Survey, and many patients claimed they struggled to see their family doctor.

Latest official figures show about 60 per cent of GP appointments were held in-person, compared to 80 per cent before the pandemic.

The BMA report also pointed to the mental and physical exhaustion felt by most doctors as they cared for hundreds of thousands of patients with Covid, all while working in a “dystopian reality”.

Four in five (81 per cent) doctors said that they did not feel adequately protected during the first wave of the virus, according to the BMA survey.

Responding to the report, a government spokesman said: “We are incredibly grateful to NHS staff for their tireless work during the pandemic, who went above and beyond to protect the public.”

They added that the NHS will be supported in its pandemic recovery by £36 billion through the Health and Social Care Levy, setting up surgical hubs and diagnostic centres, and recruiting 50,000 extra nurses.