This course will provide healthcare professionals with the tools to conduct telephone triage.   You will learn how to conduct history taking and take essential observations in a remote setting. You will also consider safe patient management and how to triage patients via remote consultations. 

Giving telephone advice is an important and sometimes demanding role. This course will take the participant through the stages of development and practice. Training will provide the skills required to set up and run a telephone triage system, and will centre around telephone triage and its complexities.

Aims:  

• Gain knowledge and awareness for carrying out appropriate, cost effective and safe triage 
• Improve confidence in telephone triage by developing a call structure 
• Develop an awareness of the communication and questioning skills require 
• Discuss and practice safe and comprehensive history taking within a telephone triage context to ensure the most appropriate outcome 
• Explore legal issues of telephone assessments including confidentiality, documentation and safety netting

Course content/learning outcomes

• The risks with remote triage Advantages v  Disadvantages 
• Historical context
• Preparation of call: 
  • Start 
  • During 
  • End/closure 
• Safeguarding
• Inequalities
• The outcomes of remote consultations, safety netting and documentation 
• Develop competence in telephone triage skills
• Understand how to categorise the urgency of the patient’s concerns