A sore throat solved by video consultation

Overview

An executive working for a major consumer goods company was on a business trip in Chester, UK, when his throat increasingly became sore. 

Services: Teleconsultation

Location: Chester, United Kingdom

Problem

The UK has an appropriate standard of care – however, at such short notice, obtaining a General Practitioner (GP) appointment proved difficult in Chester. After calling various surgeries - the closest hospital that possibly could have seen him on the day was over 50 miles away in Liverpool.  

A sore throat is generally considered non-urgent. Should the patient want to receive same-day medical attention, the next resort would be an Emergency Room visit. Here, the patient might have to anticipate many hours waiting.

The patient, unable to speak with ease and scheduled busy with meetings all day, sought medical help by calling the London Assistance Centre.

Our Assistance Centre received the call at 8.30am, and a consult was booked with details sent back for patient confirmation, within the hour. Using his laptop and its attached camera, our Teleconsultation provider was able to assess his throat and confirm he had strep throat. Treatable with antibiotics, a prescription was sent to a pharmacy near his office. 

When the patient’s employer called to check if the consult had taken place, he had already picked up the medicine. 

Impact

The patient commended the experience as ‘seamless’ – and was relieved he did not have to search endlessly for an available GP or to wait to go back to his home country to start the treatment. In the end, he was able to resume with his business trip as normal.