Respiratory specialists working in different ways: Development of a GP hotline and respiratory support service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Kartik Kumar; Vincent Mak; Katherine Groom; Yasmin Razak; Joanna L Brown; Toby Hyde; Anna Bokobza; Robina K Coker; Mohini Parmar; Ernie Wong; Loong-Yuan Han; Sarah L Elkin

doi:10.7861/fhj.2020-0082

Respiratory specialists working in different ways: Development of a GP hotline and respiratory support service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Future Healthc J. 2020 Oct;7(3):e88-e92. doi: 10.7861/fhj.2020-0082.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK and NIHR Imperial BRC clinical research fellow in respiratory medicine, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
² Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK and clinical director of the London Respiratory Strategic Clinical Network.
³ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
⁴ Golborne Medical Centre, London, UK.
⁵ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK and honorary clinical senior lecturer, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁶ Barnabas Medical Centre, London, UK and chair, NHS Ealing Clinical Commissioning Group.
⁷ Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK, and honorary clinical senior lecturer, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Abstract

Integration of primary and secondary care for the management of respiratory disease is a long-held ambition. Here, we describe how respiratory specialists at a large NHS trust, working with primary care clinicians in the area, set up a GP hotline and respiratory support service in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of enhancing delivery of care to patients in this unprecedented time. Working across traditional organisational boundaries in this way confers benefits to patients and clinicians, illustrating the value of new, integrated models of care.

Keywords: COVID-19; integrated care; primary care; respiratory medicine; telephone hotline.