A Telephone First Approach in the COVID-19 era

Abstract

With the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting exponentially increased workload for occupational and other health departments worldwide; telemedicine has been brought to the fore at rapid pace. Healthcare and the management of services have seen a drive to innovate and reinvent the way we conduct our communication with colleagues and patients alike. It is imperative that healthcare professionals, especially occupational health physicians, continue to uphold standards and maintain utmost professional levels of communication to preserve the doctor patient relationship in these challenging times. After all, occupational health in particular is responsible for the health and wellbeing of so many staff, most notably the hard working, -and most at risk- health care staff.