Patient News

In late September 2023 we changed the way patients could access GP appointments whereby all requests to see/speak to a GP are now triaged from an online consultation by our clinical team and they make an assessment as to when and by who you need to be seen by.

This change was made because GPs had identified that the previous telephone booking system of first come first served method used appointments inefficiently resulting in the appointment book being full and containing either face to face or telephone appointments that could have been dealt with by text or referral to another clinician.

When we made this switch, our objective was to stay open to requests all day for online consultations, and initially this was the case. As we moved into the winter months, we were finding that our clinical team were unable to assess the appointment requirement v. appointment availability because the volume of online consultations we were receiving between 8:00 and 9:00am meant until that workload was triaged and cleared the position with appointments that day was an unknown. Therefore, to ensure we didn’t overbook the Triage GPs were suspending Klinik access until they had worked through the cases in front of them.

Once this work was done on some days, we were able to reopen because we had appointments still available, and on others, just like with the previous telephone system, we had to close for appointment booking.

What we recognise is that the uncertainty of whether the system is open or closed is a frustration to our patients, and therefore we’ve been reviewing the volumes of online consultations we receive and when. Now we have several months of data, we wanted to establish if we can work to a better planned schedule rather than the service varying from day to day, whilst acknowledging that the online system will always be at its busiest between 8:00 and 9:00am and ensuring that clinical safety is maintained throughout.

The outcome of this is that we believe we can provide certainty that the online consultation form will as a minimum be open between 8am and 10am, at which point it will be suspended whilst the Triage GPs work through the submissions. We will then recommence taking online consultations between 13:30 and 16:00, after which it will be closed until the next working day.

Whilst the online consultation system will be unavailable outside the times above patients can still call the surgery for urgent clinical requests, nurse & HCA appointments, and administration and general queries.

We will monitor this change throughout the summer months and review the online consultation availability prior to the winter months.

Please do not hesitate to contact us via our feedback page on our website should you require any further clarification.

The Community Pharmacist Consultation Service (CPCS) has been available to patients for the past 12 months via the surgery.  Many will have used the service for:

1. urgent repeat prescription supply;
2. NHS referrals via the GP practice for minor illnesses

The new Pharmacy First Service builds on this by now enabling community pharmacies to manage patients for seven common conditions:

1. Acute otitis media (1 - 17 years old)
2. Impetigo (1 year and over)
3. Infected insect bites (1 year and over)
4. Shingles (18 years and over)
5. Sinusitis (12 years and over)
6. Sore throat (5 years and over)
7. Uncomplicated UTI (Women 16 - 64 years)

Patients can access this new clinical pathway by walking into the pharmacy directly or where appropriate, by contacting them by video consultation. In addition, patients can access the service via referrals from:

• NHS 111 (online, telephone and NHS App)
• integrated urgent care clinical assessment services
• urgent treatment centres
• emergency departments
• 999
• general practice (for the 7 new pathways in addition to the existing minor illnesses)

While you are waiting for your hospital appointment or treatment, you can now use the NHS App to get the information you need while you wait to be seen.

A new NHS App feature has been launched for patients to view an estimated waiting time for your hospital treatment. You will know you are on waiting list and how long you may have to wait for treatment.

This is the same information that would be obtained by calling the surgery, so it would greatly assist us if you would use the NHS App in the first instance.