2.1. Patient survey data

A total of 2998 patient surveys were completed in the 3 months from June through August 2020. The surveys were performed immediately following virtual outpatient consultations for patients of the University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

Patients were selected for virtual consultations by clinicians at the Trust based upon perceived technical and clinical suitability to the electronic medium. Individuals were deselected if they were deemed of lacking support to use the technology or if a detailed physical or otherwise intimate examination was required.

The web‐based survey included 12 questions covering whether it was the patient's first virtual consultation and what electronic device they had used; service‐level details such as medical speciality; experience relating to perceived effectiveness and any technological difficulties; and future preferences regarding physical or virtual consultations. The specific survey questions are detailed later in Table 1.

Summarised data for patient surveys performed foldlowing virtual consultations (N = 2998)