Telephone consultations
Of the 75 patients included in the telephone clinic cohort, the mean age was 54 years (range 20-91), with patients waiting a mean of 14 months from referral to review (range 3-24). Referral sources included GP (68), internal otorhinolaryngology referrals from a different subspecialty (2), external otorhinolaryngology departments (1), Audiology (2), Renal Medicine (1) and Neurosurgery (1). Presenting symptoms for patients in the telephone cohort are summarised in table 4. 22/75 patients (29%) were discharged, with no patients added to a waiting list for treatment. Outcomes for the discharged patients are summarised in table 5. Follow-up appointments were arranged for 53/75 (71%) of patients. 52/75 follow-up appointments were face-to-face for clinical examination, hearing tests or microsuction. One patient was offered telephone follow-up to discuss the results of a CT scan. 64/75 (85%) of patients were seen by a consultant in clinic and 11/75 (15%) were seen by a registrar.