VIGIL - Video In Geriatric Intervention Clinic: A randomised controlled feasibility trial protocol comparing face-to-face and video delivery of a specialist preoperative clinic for older people

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in significant challenges to the provision of face-to-face clinics in geriatric perioperative care (G-POC). There are no studies evaluating the use of telemedicine in this population. A pilot study at North Bristol NHS Trust demonstrated that delivery of GPOC clinics via video consultation was feasible, but did not record outcome measures to demonstrate effectiveness and was not compared to face to face clinic. This study aims to provide proof of concept examining the outcomes of virtual G-POC consultations, compared to a face-to-face clinic, using standardised perioperative outcomes. It will test the feasibility of the intervention with a view to developing a randomised controlled trial.