We all know that the NHS is under a lot of pressure and to make sure that we deliver the best possible care, we are moving to a new way of assessing and helping people.
There are multiple reasons for this:
- We want to help in a suitable timescale
- It’s important to us that everybody is treated equally, however and whenever they contact the practice – we don’t want to be first come, first served
- We want to ensure we give GP appointments to those people who really need them, and signpost people who may not need a traditional GP appointment to other sources of appropriate help.
- We want people to benefit from our whole team. In addition to GPs, we have paramedics, pharmacists, first contact physiotherapists, nurses, health care assistants, social prescribers, a chaplain and a mental health practitioner who may be best placed to help you.
Whichever way you access the practice (telephone, e-consultation, letter or in person), we will gather some key information about your request for help. This is then passed to our CLINICAL HUB a team that includes doctors and administrators. The doctors will look at all requests help, gather more information if required, and then aim to work out with you the best next step. We will always try to cater for your preferences where we can.
The help we provide is far more varied than it used to be. It might just need to be a text, or a phone call, or perhaps a video call, or a face-to-face appointment at the surgery. You might best be helped by some of our other experts – a pharmacist, physiotherapist, nurse, paramedic, mental health support worker or another specialist agency would be preferable.
Whatever the outcome, you will be told the same day what the next step will be.
We are working hard to help everyone who needs us and to do this in the best way, through the best person, in the right timescale. You can really help us by telling us why you need our help and what kind of help you think you need from us, if you know. We know it’s not always easy when you are worried or don’t feel well, so thank you for helping us by being kind and working with us, so we can provide the best possible access and care to as many of our patients as possible.
