Patient views on telehealth

Field researchers facilitated group conversations with people of Wigan and Leigh in community settings. All comments were recorded verbatim against the relevant question prompts.

Questions around tele-health were asked in the context of waiting times and appointments arrangements and people were asked if they thought technology could be part of the solution. Prompts were given to help people place text, phone, skype, email etc. in the category of ‘telehealth’.

Some people showed strong preferences for routine visits to the doctor’s surgery, clinic or hospital rather than exploring telehealth services. People identified lack of information and access as major barriers to exploring telehealth services. Many people expressed willingness to ‘explore’ telehealth but only if it explained to them ‘properly’.