The development of a telemedicine system for a centralized maxillofacial unit serving four towns

Following the amalgamation on one site of inpatient oral and maxillofacial surgical (OMFS) services serving four towns, patients attending accident an d emergency (A&E) departments in Bolton, Burnley and Bury who required spec ialist OMFS care were transferred to Blackburn, This sometimes led to inapp ropriate transfer, with inconvenience for patients, substandard care and wa sted resources. To reduce these problems, a videoconferencing system was es tablished, linking the A&E departments of three peripheral hospitals to the central site. This allowed realtime visualization of patients and their ra diographs, discussion between clinicians and transfer of a summary data-she et. The aim was to improve remote diagnosis and to deliver a cost-effective , high-quality specialist service. In the first 12 months, there were an av erage of 25 remote consultations per month, with favourable feedback from b oth patients and clinicians.