Table 1

Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face, video and telephone consultations

Face-to-face consultation		Formal video conferencing with far-end camera control		Internet-based video call platform		Telephone consultations
Advantages	Disadvantages	Advantages	Disadvantages	Advantages	Disadvantages	Advantages	Disadvantages
Best quality verbal and non-verbal communication	Inconvenience of attending, particularly for patients in remote areas	Patients need only to travel to local hospital	Patients still must travel to peripheral hospital	No travel required	Requires appropriate device and good internet connection	No travel required	Cannot pick up on non-verbal clues
No technology required for patients	May not be suitable during infectious disease epidemic/pandemic	Full control of far-end camera and assistant for examination	Requires expensive equipment and IT support	Suitable devices are widely available	More limited examination possible	Only technology required is telephone connection	No examination is possible (other than of speech)
Gold standard examination		Most examination is possible	Not all examination is possible	Can share imaging with patients	Some platforms do not have necessary encryption		Cannot share imaging with patients
Can share imaging with patients		Gives neurology experience to trainee doctors/specialist nurses	Variable quality of examining assistant	Easy to include relatives in discussion	Technical issues more common; real-time IT support not available		Difficult to include relatives in discussion
		Can share imaging with patients	Initially slower than face-to-face, but almost as quick with practice
			Rarely technical issues, but real-time IT support available

IT, information technology.