Authors
1Alex KF Lee MRCS, 1Ryan HW Cho FRCSEd (ORL), 2Eric HL Lau FRCSEd (ORL), 3HK Cheng MBBS, FANZCA, FHKAM, 2Eddy WY Wong FRCSEd (ORL), 1Peter KM Ku FRCSEd (ORL), 2Jason YK Chan FRCSEd (ORL), 1Zenon WC Yeung FRCSEd (ORL)
Author Affiliations
1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, United Christian
Hospital and Tseung Kwan O Hospital, Hong Kong
2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
 3Department of Anesthesiology, Tseung Kwan O Hospital, Hong Kong
Corresponding Authors
Zenon WC Yeung, FRCSEd (ORL)
Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery,
United Christian Hospital and Tseung Kwan O Hospital
2 Po Ning Lane, Tseung Kwan O
New Territories
Hong Kong
Email: dr.zenon.yeung@gmail.com
Phone: 852 92734534
 
 
Jason YK Chan, FRCSEd (ORL)
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Room 84026, 6/F, Lui Che Woo Clinical Sciences Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin New Territories
Hong Kong
Email: jasonchan@ent.cuhk.edu.hk
Phone: +852 97081554
Keywords:
Head and neck, otolaryngology, Hong Kong, COVID-19, telehealth
 
Abstract
The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been spreading worldwide at an alarming rate. Healthcare workers have been confronted with the challenge of not only treating patients with the virus, but also managing the disruption of healthcare services caused by COVID-19. In anticipation of outbreak, clinic sessions and operation theatre lists have been actively cut back since February 2020 to reduce hospital admissions and clinic attendances. This has severely disrupted healthcare services, leading to accumulating clinic caseload and substantial delays for operations. The head and neck cancer service has been faced with the difficult task of managing the balance between infection risk to healthcare providers and the risk of disease progression from prolonged waiting times. We share our experience in Hong Kong on the mitigation of head and neck cancer service disruption through telehealth and multi-institution collaboration.