Working from home in medicine during COVID-19 outbreak

Editor – In the article by Dr Hayes, it was noted that:

While the medical field has been slower than many professional areas to catch on to working from home, many trusts are already moving towards telephone or video outpatient appointments during COVID-19.¹

Although working from home may be the best option during the COVID-19 crisis, it might be difficult for some medical staff to work from home, and reducing the workload at hospital and transferring to telemedicine might be good during a crisis but this is not be possible in all settings.

Telemedicine for appointed outpatient care is usually not possible in poor developing countries. Although medical staff or hospitals may have facilities for this, poor patients often have no IT facilities. Additionally, the promotion of the work at home concept, social distancing and decreased medical workload is used worldwide, some medical administrators with an unsafe attitude in developing countries might order their medical staff to work at risk without the use of new preventive technologies nor the working at home concept.² Equipment might be necessary for working at home but good administration and management is also required.

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