Virtual Care in CF (VIRTUAL-CF) Study

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common fatal inherited condition in Caucasians, causing recurrent chest infections (pulmonary exacerbations). People with CF experiencing pulmonary exacerbation often require a 14day course of intravenous antibiotics and this treatment can either be delivered in hospital or in the community. Patients admitted to hospital are seen regularly by members of the CF multidisciplinary team (MDT), including doctors, nurses, dieticians and physiotherapists. This allows patients\' progress to be closely monitored and also gives patients the opportunity to discuss any concerns or questions. In contrast, patients receiving IV antibiotics in the community are only seen by the MDT at the beginning and end of their 14 day course of IV antibiotics. Although CF nurses often visit patients on 12 occasions during the course of treatment, patients are not routinely reassessed by the rest of the MDT. There is therefore less opportunity for the MDT to adjust patients\' treatment and for patients to communicate with the MDT. We therefore aim to study whether patients receiving IV antibiotics in the community benefit from monitoring their own oxygen saturations and lung function, as well as taking part in twice-weekly videoconferences with the MDT (\'virtual care\'). We expect that this will enable the MDT to to assess patients\' progress more closely and allow patients to communicate with the MDT more easily. We will assess whether this improves patients\' experience of their care and whether this translates into improvements in health and economic outcomes. One hundred subjects will be recruited over a 12month period, with 50 subjects allocated to \'virtual care\' and 50 subjects allocated to \'routine care\'. Subjects receiving \'routine care\' will receive usual clinical care. The research team are well placed to perform the study because we are part of a large CF centre with an excellent record in clinical research.