New appointments system

BACK TO MAIN INDEX

Monday, 25 March 2024 marks the implementation of our new appointments system designed to ensure you get the best appointment with the right person with the majority being same day appointments.

What will this mean for me?

The Barkantine Practice have introduced a new method of providing you with the most appropriate and timely care. Care navigation is being introduced to improve accessibility to primary care services and includes triage by experienced GPs and clinicians to support patients. From 25 March 2024 our Patient Advisors (formerly known as Receptionists) will be allocating appointments once a senior clinician has reviewed your request for a consultation, this is a very quick process that allow more appointments on the day.

We would ask you to use the online consultation browser button on the website as this is the quickest and most effective way of dealing with your request. If you cannot use online consult requests then our patient Advisor team will be happy to talk to you and complete a form with you.

If you have come into the Practice and asked for an appointment then you will be asked to complete a form or our Patient Advisor will help those patients who need support to do this.

The most noticeable change will be when you initially contact us, your enquiry or appointment request will be recorded by our Patients Advisors to be reviewed by the clinicians to decide which member of our healthcare team is best placed to help. 

This approach is often referred to as triage and is recommended by NHS England to improve accessibility to primary care services. Our aim is to ensure that you only have to contact us once about a problem and to take away the need to be “first in the queue”, be that on the phone, in person or via our digital access. The extremely high demand on General Practice and a rapidly expanding team of health care professionals makes triage a much safer way of getting you to the right person at the right time. 

Our Patients Advisors have been trained by our GPs to ask for information regarding your concerns which they will record in your medical record. This information is important as it will allow assessment of the clinical need along with any other factors to ensure you are directed to the most suitable person to care for you. When you need an appointment this will be offered within a specified time set by the clinician.  If your request does not require an appointment e.g. medical certificate renewal or other administrative matter a member of our team will notify you when this is completed. 

Whilst we realise that this is a change in how appointments are normally booked, we believe it is important to provide safe and equitable access for all patients according to their clinical need, with the most appropriate clinician, at the right time.  We are grateful for your understanding as we introduce this new way of accessing care.  

Thank you for your continued support with the services we deliver to our patients. We would be grateful for your patience with our team as they implement this change. Your feedback is welcome via our website and we will review this new process to ensure continual adjustment within the system based on suggestion and need for improvement.

When will I know about my appointment?

Requests for appointments will be reviewed throughout the day and you will be contacted via text in most cases, if you cannot receive a text message then we will know to call you.

What happens if you have run out of appointments today?

We believe our new system offers the best chance of seeing people on the same day. If we have filled our capacity and there are no appointments in the extended hour’s hub we will advise you to use 111. If you feel you can wait and decline to use 111 then we would ask to re-submit your request the following day.

Why are you doing this?

We are committed to improving same day access and prioritising those patients in greatest need in a fair and open manner. We will listen carefully to patient comments and views and continue to improve and update the process to ensure it is working well.

This process allows a senior clinician to ensure your request gets to the right person, this may include managing administrative request or using the National Pharmacy First initiative. We are certain it offers the best opportunity to increase the availability of clinical appointments

We need your understanding and support so that we have the most equitable system for appointments delivering the speediest access to all.

Published: Mar 25, 2024