Face-to-face consultations
Of the 75 patients included in the face-to-face cohort, the mean age was 56 years (range 19-91) with patients waiting a mean of 9 months from referral to clinic review (range 0-22). Referral sources included GP (40), Audiology (14), internal referrals from a different otorhinolaryngology subspecialty (9), external otorhinolaryngology departments (2), Neurosurgery (3), Oral and Maxillofacial surgery (2), Accident and Emergency (2), Neurology (1) and Dermatology (1). In one patient, we were unable to locate the referral information. Presenting symptoms for patients in the face-to-face cohort are summarised in table 3. A definitive outcome was reached in 53/75 patients (71%), where they were either discharged (47, 63%) or added to a waiting list for treatment (6, 8%), following initial review. Follow-up was scheduled for 22/75 (29%) patients with 16 booked for further face-to-face follow-up and 6 booked for telephone follow-up. Indications for face-to-face follow-up included a review following a trial of medical therapy and/or investigations (12/16) and further microsuction (4/16). Indications for telephone follow-up included review of progress following treatment (3/6) and discussion of scan results (3/6). 39/75 (52%) of patients were seen by a consultant in clinic and 36/75 (48%) were seen by a registrar.