A virtual communication system is helping some of Germany's hospitals cope amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The "Telemedicine" scheme gives hospitals in the North Rhine-Westphalia region the ability to connect to experts at two bigger university hospitals through a virtual advice network. The medics offer their expertise as well as talking the onsite doctors through procedures and advise on how best to treat patients.

The system has been in place since 2012, with 17 local hospitals already signed up pre-pandemic. But it has since been offered to all hospitals in the region as they try to battle the deadly virus. 

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Doctors at the region's Aachen Hospital were concerned they would be unable to cope with an influx of patients.

Gernot Marx, head of the intensive care department at the hospital, said: "There was a great fear that the situation in Germany would be comparable with that in Northern Italy and they thought about how we could best prepare all intensive care units for the management of severe cases of COVID-19 with lung failure."

But Telemedicine has meant staff have been supported by other medics when faced with life-or-death decisions and relieved the burden on larger hospitals that could have become overwhelmed. 

It has also helped reassure relatives who were worried about their loved ones not being treated in a university hospital.

Participants in the scheme have so far carried out more than 1,800 video conference calls, helping to treat 300 patients.

Sandra Dohmen, the medical manager at the virtual hospital project, said: "Facing COVID-19, something we had never seen before, with multiple unknown things, the virtual hospital [has] made it possible to create a network for sharing expertise and helping patients on the spot. This is a great added value."

"So far, 90 percent of the patients we have seen have been able to stay in smaller hospitals close to where they live. This is both a gain in quality and it helps to ensure the intensive care capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic," she added.

The hope in the future is that Telemedicine could be used to help improve access to specialist care in areas outside big cities.

"We still have room for improvement for technology and connectivity. During telemedicine visits, we spend at least 50 percent of the time exchanging data. It would be an option, where we are making good progress, to automate these data transmissions," Dohmen said.

Video editing: Pedro Duarte