New telephone systems and on-line booking improve patient experience at GP practices
NEW telephone systems and improved on-line booking are helping to beat the 8am rush at GP practices in Derby and Derbyshire.
Most practices in the city and county have upgraded their telephone systems and all 112 practices now offer appointments and repeat prescription requests online.
More than 70 practices have also gone through, or are currently going through, a training programme that supports them to operate their systems and staff rotas more efficiently.
This provides patients with a better experience in dealing with their practice and it allows practice teams to use their skills and time to best meet patients’ needs.
The new telephone systems show call handlers how many people are waiting and they offer the option of a call back, rather than waiting in a queue.
This reduces the frustration for patients of waiting on the telephone and it means practice teams can spread the number of calls through the day.
Watch a short film showing the new system in practice at Gresleydale Healthcare Centre, Swadlincote.
Many practices have also upgraded their websites so they are easier to use and they have integrated their systems with the NHS app.
This means patients can book routine appointments online without the need to call by phone, and in most practices they can see their own medical information.
The improvements have been made as part of the national Primary Care Access Recovery Plan, which aims:
- to tackle the 8am rush and reduce the number of people struggling to contact their practice
- for patients to know on the day they contact their practice how their request will be managed
The General Practice Improvement Programme involves a facilitator spending up to 16weeks working intensively with practice managers and their teams to implement the new phone and web systems and to introduce new and more efficient ways of working.
Derby and Derbyshire ICB supports them with up to £10,000 funding to make the investments they need in their systems.
Clive Newman, director of primary care for NHS Derby and Derbyshire, said: “General practice is under huge pressure and we all understand the frustration of patients who have been unable to make appointments or to see their healthcare professional.
“We’ve been working really hard to support general practice to implement improved systems and we’re really pleased with the numbers of practices who have taken up the improvement programme.
“For patients it means they have a better experience of booking an appointment and managing prescriptions or requests online.
“For practices teams it means they have better information about the needs of their patients and they can make an appointment for patients with the appropriate healthcare professional in a timely way.
“That will help general practice in managing day to day demand and it should mean better healthcare outcomes for patients.”
Other improvements for practices as a result of the programme include:
- better processes to collect information on patient need at the first point of contact
- directing patients more appropriately to the most suitable healthcare professional or service, including community pharmacy, for their needs
- more efficient methods of processing prescription requests and online registration
NHS England, which is funding the training and improvements, has analysed the impact for practices that have taken part nationally. It has found:
- between 15% and 61% increase in use of digital access by patients
- between 9% and 50% cut in call waiting times
- between 13% and 52% cut in abandoned calls
- average 5% cut in avoidable appointments
- average 9 hours and 17 minutes per week saving of clinical staff time
- average 9 hours and 19 minutes per week released in administrative staff time
- 98% of practice managers rated the programme as having gone “well” or “very well”
A spokesperson for NHS England in the Midlands said: “We are very proud to be able to offer the General Practice Improvement Programme.
“The General Practice Improvement Programme enables practices to better manage patient demand.
“Since its implementation, the programme has increased primary care access, with GPs and their teams delivering over 348 million appointments in 2023 across England – 19.4 million more than the previous year, which means more than 1.4 million appointments have been provided every working day.
“Additionally, record numbers of GP appointments are being delivered with 2.5 million more patients seen a month compared to May 2023 (when the primary care access recovery plan was published).
“The General Practice Improvement Programme will continue to be delivered throughout the 2024/25 period and we look forward to enabling more practices to benefit from the programme.”