A telepaediatric burns service and the potential travel savings for families living in regional Australia

Abstract

In approximately six years we have conducted more than 1000 burns consultations for children living in 65 regional towns throughout Queensland and in northern New South Wales. Some regional towns are up to 2600 km from the specialist paediatric burns centre in Brisbane. We have calculated the potential travel distance saved, assuming that each consultation required a return journey to Brisbane, and that paediatric patients would have been accompanied by a parent or carer. The annual number of telepaediatric burns consultations conducted has grown from 64 in 2001 to 285 in 2006. The average time spent per consultation was 13 min (SD 2). In 2006, telepaediatric burns appointments accounted for about 17% of all burns outpatient appointments. The median distance of patients seen by telehealth was 600 km (interquartile range 300–1225). In six years, the estimated travel savings were about 1.4 million km, which is equivalent to a return journey from Earth to the Moon. twice.