Medefer – telemedicine consultations
What is Medefer?
Medefer’s outpatient service has been designed by Clinicians to enable patients to be reviewed, investigated, and managed without the need for a physical attendance at a hospital outpatient appointment. This has been achieved through developing a virtual outpatient pathway supported by the company’s remote access platform.
The virtual outpatient hospital works with both Primary and Secondary care pathways, and most importantly helps patients to get better, faster. Its unique Virtual Hospital model is used by multiple NHS trusts, CCGs and GP practices across the UK.
The company was co-founded in 2015, led by CEO Bahman Nedjat-Shokouhi, a practising NHS Gastroenterologist Consultant. After witnessing (pre-Covid-19 pandemic) the often-multiple months patients were waiting to attend an outpatient clinic, Bahman realised most hospital outpatient appointments could have been managed more quickly and efficiently in a virtual environment – reducing the anxiety caused by waiting times, reducing the pressure on the NHS by ensuring a Clinician’s time is geared towards patients that need urgent care, and helping to address increasing patient waiting list backlogs.
What does the company do?
Medefer’s aim is to provide a sustainable NHS outpatient service solution given the growing population and longer waiting lists for NHS outpatient clinic appointments – which has been further compounded by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
Medefer believes that every NHS patient deserves the best possible healthcare and access to NHS care as quickly as possible. Medefer’s cutting-edge technologies deliver a unique ‘Virtual Hospital’, where patients receive specialist input to their care within a couple of days of a referral.
Many of the senior management team at Medefer continue to work as NHS Clinicians and are passionate about working with the NHS to complement its current services, not to replace them. All Medefer Specialists are practising NHS Consultants. In short, Medefer is from the NHS and is for the NHS.
For more information visit https://medefer.com/.
What they’re providing to Manx Care
Medefer will deliver virtual outpatient appointments across a number of individual specialities including Cardiology, ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat), and Gastroenterology, Respiratory Medicine, Pain Management, Orthopaedics and routine Dermatology referrals.
Patients who are eligible to have their consultations delivered virtually will be proactively contacted by Manx Care in the coming weeks and offered the choice of seeing a Medefer specialist to expedite their treatment rather than remaining on the waiting list to see a Manx Care specialist. Members of the public should be aware that not every individual patient on the waiting lists across these specialisms will be suitable to have their assessments delivered virtually.
Read the press release announcing further details on this.
Medefer virtual consultations - Frequently Asked Questions
Key contact for this work
The Patient Information Centre at Noble’s Hospital can support you with many of your queries (call 01624 650103 or email pic@manxcare.im). The team is available as follows:
- Monday to Thursday, 8:30am – 5pm
- Friday, 8:30am – 4:30pm
- Closed during weekends and Isle of Man Public Holidays
The team operates a voicemail system during out of hours periods. They aim to respond to queries within 48 working hours of receiving these.
Alternatively, the Manx Care Advice and Liaison Service (MCALS) may be able to support you as well (call 01624 642642 or email MCALS@gov.im). The MCALS team is available as follows:
- Weekdays, 10am – 3pm
- Closed during weekends and on Isle of Man Public Holidays
If a message is left on the answer-machine, a member of the team will aim to return the call during the next working day.
**Please be aware that this option is free at the point of treatment**
No-one from either Manx Care or Medefer will ask you for any form of payment, or for your bank details or any other financial details, either on the phone, in a letter or via email. Your treatment will be free at the point of care.
In the event that you are contacted by anyone claiming to be from Manx Care or Medefer requesting payment for your virtual consultation, please do not make any form of payment or provide any financial details. Instead, please report this initially to the Patient Information Centre at Noble’s Hospital (call 01624 650103). The team will then report this to the relevant authorities if this is deemed to be an attempted fraud or scam. Alternatively, you can report fraud and scam attempts to www.ocsia.im or read further advice and guidance here: https://ocsia.im/advice-guidance/vishing-smishing/. You should let your bank know immediately if you’ve given away your account details or sent money to a third party and are concerned about that.
