The guidance presented on this website has been produced from of the findings of the AltCon study conducted in 2015/2016 and is aimed at practitioners, commissioners and healthcare managers who might be considering implementing an alternative to a face to face consultation. This information may also be useful to other groups such as patients or carers who are interested in how alternatives to face to face consultations may affect/or be influenced by them. 

This guidance will not be updated, so represents our understanding in January 2017. The situation will inevitably change as the use of alternatives to face-to-face consultations increases in future.  

As part of the AltCon study we conducted a conceptual review which examined the existing literature on the use of alternative to face to face consultations. If you would like to read more about this topic the paper can be found here. 

The Altcon study was funded by the NIHR HS&DR Programme. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the HS&DR Programme, NIHR, NHS, the Department of Health or Bristol NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.

 

The Altcon study was hosted by Bristol NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and conducted by a research team from the Universities of Bristol, Oxford, Exeter, Edinburgh, Warwick and the West of England