The Department of Health has already backed the technique and says this consultation is not about whether it should be allowed, but how it is implemented.
Using the randomisation process, the PICU consultant will determine whether the consultation continues by telephone (usual care, control arm), or by telemedicine (intervention arm).
To achieve this, the ability of a judge to review the content of the decision – rather than whether the consultation occurred – after the fact must necessarily be removed.
But it does lead some to ask whether the consultation really had much value.
Outcomes were assumed to have been equivalent whether the consultation had occurred in person or via the HTP.
The outpatient department and whether the consultation was a first or follow-up visit were used to allocate each appointment to an outpatient tariff [ 26].
The files of a random sample of patients who had an interdisciplinary consultation during their stay in hospital were judged by an expertpanel whether the consultation fitted the expertise of a GP.
South Korea and Japan are also clearly skeptical of whether the consultations, as suggested by the Chinese, are worth a try.
Even among doctors who sought medical attention the last time they were ill, we are unable to judge whether this was an "appropriate" consultation.
However, it is not known whether consultants tailor the consultation to the individual woman.
Furthermore, we have looked at complications related to the surgical operation as this goes to the issue of whether telephone consultations in this context are safe – a necessary pre-requisite for their implementation as routine practice.
