How will this work?
1) Patients with a query will fill in a short questionnaire. This will give our clinicians the information they need to assess your needs. If you can do this online via our website this frees up the phone lines so our receptionists can help patients who cannot fill in the form for themselves.
2) All forms then go into an inbox. It doesn’t matter if you have completed the form online, rang reception to be helped to fill it in, or come into the practice and filled it in – all forms go to the same place. Our administrative staff filter out any admin requests and send these to the right place to be addressed. They then send the clinical queries to our clinical triage team.
3) Our clinical triage team assess each query using the information you have provided. If they need to know anything else, they might text you or ring you. They will them decide on the best course of action for each query. This could be arranging an appointment either face to face or by phone or online messaging. If appropriate, we may arrange a home visit or for you to be referred to another service.
4) You will be contacted about the outcome of your query to let you know next steps.
This way of working is recommended by NHS England. It is shown to reduce waiting times and it enables us to attend to your medical needs more promptly. By using remote consultations where appropriate, we can free up face to face appointments for those patients that need them.
We hope to support our patients and their families and carers to get used to the new way of contacting the practice. We will provide additional support to any patients who are unable to use online resources. Our team are on hand to guide our patients every step of the way.
Thank you for working together with us on this new project to improve our patient access and for your continued support.
