After listening carefully to patient feedback over the past year, we have decided to make some changes to our appointment system.  We believe these changes will both increase the availability, choice of appointments and allow us to meet the clinical needs of more patients each day.

As you are aware, currently all requests for appointments with a GP or Nurse Practitioner receive a phone call first.  We previously decided to use this method as the majority of these calls could be dealt with safely without the need for a face-to-face encounter, and we could process more phone calls than face to face appointments each day.  If a face-to-face appointment was required, this was booked at the discretion of the clinician.

Initially, the conversion rate of telephone encounters was very low but over time we have reached a point where around 40% of these telephone calls are converted to face-to-face encounters. This takes up two appointments, rather than one, which has become inefficient over time.

We have received numerous comments lamenting the difficulty in seeing clinicians face to face, and the difficulty obtaining any appointment for the same day.  We share your frustrations and have spent some time considering ways in which we can better meet the needs of the practice population.

From July 15^th, the appointment system will change.  When you call the surgery, you will be offered either a face to face or a telephone consultation on the same day, or at other times within the upcoming week.  There will be some exceptions to this, depending on the history you give to our staff, however this will only be to insist on a face-to-face consultation for certain conditions.

In the vast majority of cases, you will choose, not us.

We will alter our rotas to create as many appointments as possible, available before and after school, and our staff will be able to suggest the most appropriate clinician for you to see or speak with, if you are unsure (for example someone who specialises in Women’s Health).  Our intention is you see the right person, first time, every time.

In addition, we will increase the capacity of our clinicians to respond to online requests/consultations which can be accessed via our website below (Contact us online).  The online consultations will allow you to receive a response via email, text or a phone call, depending on which mode is most suitable to you.

We anticipate this new way of working will significantly increase our capacity, however our resources remain limited, and we are working hard to increase our capacity within available resources so please be patient with us.

The new appointment system will be reviewed every three months to make sure we are making the best use of our resources and we continue to encourage feedback from patients, so please make your views known.