Evaluation of a new long-Covid telephone triage service within clinical neuropsychology

Background: The efficacy of telephone triaging has been championed for over a decade and more recent research has shown its value with certain neuropsychological populations (e.g. Traumatic Brain Injury), but further research is needed in other areas of clinical neuropsychology, such as long-Covid services.

Aims: The primary aims of this evaluation were 1) to obtain service user feedback on the long-Covid telephone triage service, and 2) to use this feedback to inform future delivery of the long-Covid care and treatment pathway within the clinical neuropsychology service.

Method: A cross-sectional survey design was employed, consisting of a 3-part questionnaire that was disseminated to 50 service users via the Smart Survey digital platform, to gain demographic and participant feedback on their experience of the service. Quantitative data was analysed using Smart Survey and a thematic summary of free-form text responses was conducted.

Results: A high level of service user satisfaction was found across all elements of the triage service, including waiting time, call expectedness and convenience, satisfaction with clinician, symptom understanding, help/support received, call length, and post-triage follow-up. The evaluation is clearly reflective of the value of the long-Covid triage service, evidenced by service user feedback and how it synchronises with both local and wider NHS strategic visions. The data also corroborates findings from existing literature around the effectiveness of telephone triaging.