Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: NETs are regarded as rare endocrine malignancies, which often present late. The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected this and patient care. The impact will have been felt in health service delivery and patient experiences. To understand NET patient perspectives and optimise care, we conducted a survey to review patient perception of: telemedicine-based care, delays to imaging, treatment, and the impact of COVID-19.

Method: 70 NET patients treated between January and December 2020, were randomly selected from the NET database. Paper questionnaires, with a pre-paid return envelope, were sent out in April 2021. These consisted of 35 multi-choice questions, with four options (graded 0-3 for unhelpful to extremely helpful), yes-no questions (coded 1 or 2), and a free text area. Questions were grouped into 6 main sections: initial contact, physicians, delays for diagnostics and treatment, psychological support, experience of telemedicine (phone and video), and illness with COVID-19.

Results: 47 out of 70 responses were received. 71 % of patients surveyed felt extremely well cared for by their NET physicians, 63 % being extremely satisfied with consultations. Only 34 % felt psychological support was extremely good, 25% felt it was very helpful. 36 % felt their anxiety levels had increased during the pandemic. 28% felt their imaging had been delayed. 2 % stated their treatment had been delayed. 60% liked the video/telephone follow-up. 77 % felt supported by their team. 2% of those surveyed tested positive for COVID-19. The free text highlighted somatostatin analogue therapy homecare provisions: positives and negatives, issues with self-injection, and how NET patients highly value their care.

Conclusion: This novel survey has confirmed that NET patients were able to adapt to changing service delivery and were happy to be managed through telemedicine. It highlighted the need to implement additional psychological support in the wake of the COVID pandemic.