The Patient Triage Appointment System has been designed to ensure that patients who most need an appointment are able to get one.
It’s a new appointment system that involves a GP triaging all appointment requests before an appointment is given. This means that the GP will determine how quickly an appointment is needed and whether your request would be better dealt with by another member of our multi-disciplinary clinical team or by another service.
With a short and simple set of questions, your completed form will be sent to our triage hub, meaning that your appointment request will be triaged promptly, and you will receive a response from your GP in a timely manner.
We therefore request that patients no longer attend the practice to book an appointment. If you do not have access to the internet or are unable to complete the form, our Reception Team can complete and submit this on your behalf.
Please Note – This will not mean that your request is dealt with quicker or that you will automatically receive an appointment. The form submitted by Reception will be added to the list and processed in exactly the same way as it would if you submitted this yourself.
The online consultation form will be reviewed against a triage protocol. The more information you provide us with, the better we can ensure that you are triaged to the most appropriate pathway.
- You may receive a text back asking for more information or photographs,
- you may receive a phone call from a clinician,
- you may be sent a text with a link to self-book an appointment in the coming days or receive a phone call to book an appointment.
If you have a preferred clinician, please let us know. Whilst we strive to accommodate your request, we cannot guarantee it. This will ensure you see the most appropriate clinician first time around. If you have requested a specific clinician and we are able to accommodate this, we will text you a self-book link to enable you to book a suitable appointment time. If you do not use this link before it expires, we cannot guarantee you another appointment with the same clinician and you may be required to complete the form again.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Patient Triage?
Patient Triage uses quick a simple online form which patients complete when they wish to contact the surgery. For medical issues it contains 3 questions, which should only take a few minutes to do. Whether you visit in person or contact us by phone our Reception team will no longer be directly booking your appointment.
What if I do not have access to the internet or struggle to complete forms?
Our practice phone lines will remain open for anyone with accessibility needs who might find it difficult to complete this form and a member of our Reception team will be happy to complete it with you and submit on your behalf.
What if English is not my main spoken language?
In the same way that clinicians frequently use an official translation service on the phone, the patient support team will also be able to access this if the patient they are speaking to is on the phone or in person in the surgery.
Will I get an appointment quicker if I speak to reception instead?
The reception team will no longer be making GP appointments with patients directly. All methods of completing the triage forms, either online, in person or over the phone will be assessed equally.
What happens after I submit a query for a medical issue to the practice?
Medical queries will be submitted to our GP-led triage team. A member of the team will respond to you within 2 working days. Conditions that need to be assessed on the same day will be prioritised. The triage team may send you a request for further information in the form of a short questionnaire specific to your issue or may send you a direct link to book an appointment at the surgery.
What happens if I need an urgent appointment?
Every GP and clinician on duty will have urgent ‘on the day’ appointments available. Conditions that require a same day assessment will be booked in on the same day or directed to an appropriate service. For new, non-urgent issues, appointments will be available for a time during the next 14 days. After your form has been triaged by a GP, if they feel that an appointment is necessary, you will be sent a link to book a suitable appointment directly, or a member of our patient support team will contact you to arrange this.
What if I have more than one medical issue that I need help with?
Please only submit one medical issue per Accurx Patient Triage form, so that you can add sufficient detail for each problem, to allow our GPs to appropriately deal with your request.
How do I submit an admin query?
There is an option to submit an admin query on the online form for general administrative issues such as a medication query, requesting a letter from a doctor, a medical summary or copy of your record, or to request a fit (sick) note. We aim for a member of the Patient Support Team to respond to you within 2 working days.
Will patients still have a choice of which clinician they see?
There is an option to specify which clinician you would prefer to see. We will try to meet this request, availability permitting but you will be given our availability and can then decide if you would prefer to wait for the clinician of your choice, or take the earliest available appointment slot.
What is self-book?
Our team may send you a text message inviting you to book your own appointment online that better suits your convenience and availability.
Why are we making this change?
We believe that patient triage is the most effective way that we can sustain a safe and accessible service for our patients based on clinical need.
We have listened to patients who have raised concerns directly with us about a lack of appointments and we have spoken to our Patient Participation Group about the challenges we are experiencing with regards to increasing patient need, available staffing resources and the difficulties with call waiting times and waiting times for available appointments.
This change should make it easier to submit requests to the practice and ensure that requests are seen by the most appropriate member of staff and dealt with in an appropriate timeframe.
The benefits of using patient triage are:
- Easy to access.
- No waiting on hold on the phone
- Your request will be seen by a GP directly
- The surgery might be able to help more quickly and easily eg with text message advice, prescription, or referring you directly to an appropriate service.
- Appointments will be offered by clinicians according to need and urgency.
- Patients who need appointments most will be prioritised, rather than patients who get through on the phones first.
