Patient information Practice Update

IMPORTANT PATIENT INFORMATION

It has been 7 months since we switched the way we manage our appointments. Since this was implemented, we have had 5473 patients access the system for advice, appointments etc which is fantastic. The feedback from patients including at our recent PPG was that overall patients are happy with the system. 

We work with Patchs, the provider of our online consultation system on making improvements. Examples of this are that we can now send a link to patients to allow them to directly book appointments.

For patients who are unable or unwilling to access our digital tools, our reception team can complete a request on their behalf. This team are highly trained and also able to support patients to sign up and use our digital tools. So we can have our team available to answer calls efficiently, we are working to reduce the number of patients coming to the reception desk. We ask that patients try to either access the online system themselves or ring the surgery to complete this.

From the 20th of November to increase our capacity for our patient population we are making a change to how our team work. We will be removing the set times the team process requests and enabling a higher number of requests to be submitted throughout the day. We will have reception and administration staff working together each day, supported by doctors. They will support the triage process to ensure the patient sees the most appropriate person first time. 

We have a range of services and staff both in our practice and locally who can support our practice and patients. These include clinical pharmacists, physiotherapists, mental health workers, social prescribers and local chemists. By triaging patients to these services means we can ensure that patients see the right person first time. It also means where patients need to see a doctor there is easier access to them.

We are aware there are ongoing improvements to be made. We are working with our phone supplier to improve our phone system, as there are issues we are aware of which means patients get a less than ideal service. Please be assured that we are working hard to bring a solution to this. We are working with our IT companies to improve the self-booking options for appointments, so patients have a clearer choice of who they are booking with. We are partnering with the NHS App team to support digital prescriptions and access to your records.

Thank you to our patients for your continued support

Drs Walling & Nathan