Telephone clinics in the follow up of renal transplant recipients

Key learning point:

Offering telephone consultations to patients offers social and environmental benefits. Patients also reported an increased sense of empowerment and autonomy in the successful management of chronic disease.

Setting/Patient Group: Renal Unit - Transplant patients

Issue to be addressed:  Renal units have traditionally used outpatient clinics to provide routine follow up to their transplanted patients, although the care required is often very simple and the patients typically feel well therefore often prompting unnecessary patient travel.

Intervention: A bi-monthly telephone clinic was set up to provide follow-up to patients and reduce the inconvenience to patients of frequent trips to the hospital. Patients are offered the choice to remain in the traditional follow up system or switch to quarterly telephone clinic follow up, with just one annual face-to-face outpatient appointment at their local renal clinic

Outcomes:

Social:

• Considerable time savings for patients
• Convenient access to healthcare
• Patients reported a heightened sense of empowerment in the management of their medical problems

Environmental:

• Reduction of unnecessary travel
• 2000 kg CO2 saved annually (estimated)