Inspire Health Practices will soon be moving over to a new system for patients to
get help/advice/appointments. The Practice has been outlining these plans to the Inspire Patient Group and asking for comments.
This new system is being trialled at the Practice now and it is hoped it will be fully operational by the end of February.
Why a new system ?
The NHS is in overload and General Practice is struggling to meet demand.
Patients and the Practice are frustrated by delays on the phones and difficulties in
getting timely help or appointments.
Our doctors have expressed how challenging it is to try and ensure all patients are
being made safe.
What are the key changes?
It is hoped that most requests from patients will soon come in over the electronic
system.
A senior doctor will oversee these requests and will arrange for the most
appropriate response (ie triage them]). This could be anything from an immediate
call back to suggest a 999 call right through to passing the message on to the
admin team eg book an appointment for a vaccination.
Patients not able to use the electronic system will still be able to phone in and they will be placed on the doctor’s triage list.
What are the advantages?
Most patients will not have to spend time on the phone. They send in their request
and will receive an appropriate response.
The time you wait for the response will vary- the doctor will prioritise the calls.
Urgent problems will be managed urgently and more routine matters will join the
queue. Some queries will be better handled by another member of the team eg
pharmacist/admin.
It is excellent to hear that the triaging doctor will be a senior doctor. This is the best
way of trying to guarantee safety but also of ensuring queries are dealt with most
efficiently.
What if I want help from the doctor who best knows my situation?
The doctors want to offer continuity of care especially to the frail and elderly and
vulnerable. People are living longer and often have more than one ‘long term
condition’ to manage. It is well proven that when patients can talk with a doctor who
knows them then the outcomes are safer and better.
The triage doctor will assess the call and if it seems another doctor would be better
able to help the call will be passed to them.
If the call is urgent then it will probably have to be the ‘on call’ doctor who manages
the problem but for less urgent matters then you can request the doctor who knows
you.
How do I use this system?
Search ‘inspire health chesterfield’ to access the Practice web site.
The link for the electronic referral for help/appointments programme will be easy to
find. Or click here to be redirected to the Practice website (if you scroll down the page you will see the link to the system).
The electronic referral system will be open between 7am and 12pm daily. Clinicians will start triaging at 8am.
Any urgent matter before 8am will need to go to 111 as at present.
The video below shows how to use the system, however please be aware fo the following:
This video clip is helpful but please be aware that Inspire Health will use it a little differently.
The clip mentions do not use this service if you would like a reply within 48 hours-disregard this
The Practice wants people to use this referral service for all their queries including urgent ones and the triage team will prioritise the request
What if the system becomes full?
It is an unfortunate fact that many NHS systems are in overload with large
numbers of staff vacancies. The Practice have told us they advertise for more
doctors but are not getting replies.
The doctors main concern is to ensure patient safety and they realise that there are
occasions when it will not be possible to give a clinical response in an appropriate
time scale.
If the triage system has had to close because it is full then;
If an emergency use 999 or consider 111
If not an emergency but needs an urgent response before the end of the day then call the Practice requesting urgent assessment.
The Inspire Patient Group (IPG) have been having discussions with the doctors
and management of the Practice and found that the Practice was already designing
improvements. The changes outlined here are an effort to improve on the
commonest issues raised by patients in our ‘3 wishes survey’ ie
Difficulty in getting an appointment or other form of help
Waiting times on the phones
Continuity of care
We hope that this new system will improve matters and are certainly grateful to the
Practice for these changes and its willingness to talk with the IPG and work
together with patients.
Please consider leaving your email with us at ppgroup.ih@gmail.com so you can receive updates on how this new system is working out and on all other Practice developments and be able to give your opinions and suggestions.
We now have over 950 patients joined who receive valuable information on local
heath care matters. We believe that good communication between the Practice and
its patients is especially important in these difficult times for the NHS.
The online request is Never open!! Why??? So it's still ages on the phone! I, like many others, prefer to see my same doctor who knows me best. I'm really not confident about this change, it's going downhill.
With all the staff at this practice you would assume you would be able to get an appointment to see someone fairly easily. Good luck with that, I cant even get through on the phone! Really bad.
Why is the appointment system that was due to be available at 11.30pm on February 14th, now further delayed until the 27th, nearly 2 weeks later? No explanation on the Inspire Health site page. Incredible, considering the lengthy and tiresome information monologue on the appointments line.
well after being told every day last week there were no urgent appointments available and to ring the next day!!!!! today MON every time i rang the surgery i was told appointments were full and cut off. i have tried the new site but it does not start until the 14th feb. I am trying 1 last time to ring the surgery if no response then i will move doctors
Sadly I have got to the point now, I don't even ring the surgery, as even when it's urgent, I'm finding I'm having to wait 3 weeks for a call, I use to love this surgery but it has got to the point now I am having to ring 111 to get help, Now you are stating you want to triage appointments, well isn't that done already when we ring for a appointment, All it means now you won't be held on a queue for nearly 30 minutes. What I do find interesting when I go past the surgery its empty, I have even had to walk to the surgery to make a appointment as I can't get through. Al…