GP surgeries are having to adapt to the many challenges put before them not least the recruitment of GPs. With this in mind, we have decided to make a major change to our appointment system with an aim to improve patient access, whilst providing good quality care.
We will be introducing a new pre-triage system which means that any requests for “on the day appointments” will work as follows:
- Our admin and reception team, who have been trained accordingly, will ask specific questions about your symptoms.
- The duty GP will then be able make a swift decision as to which type of clinician is best to see you or whether a telephone consultation would be more suitable.
- You will then be booked in accordingly and given a specific time and clinician.
If you feel uncomfortable speaking to our non-clinical staff about your medical problem we can suggest a call back, however it would be after the appointments have been allocated and may lead to delays in addressing your queries.
What does this mean?
This new system will mean that everyone will be screened by a doctor and all requests will be dealt with on the same day to ensure that each individual is seen by the most appropriate healthcare professional, which may not always be a GP.
This will also mean that no-one will be able to book a same-day appointment by just turning up at the surgery or phoning at 08:00.
As well as saving your time, this will also free up our doctors time to see those individuals with complex medical needs and to better utilise our Allied Healthcare Professionals (paramedic practitioner, advanced nurse practitioner, physician associate, practice nurse).
This service is primarily for acute problems and for those who find it difficult to get to an appointment at the surgery.