New Appointment System

 

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We have listened to our patients who tell us they find it difficult to get through on the telephone and book appointments.

New appointment system news

Because of this, we are making a few changes to:

  • Improve Telephone Access
  • Provide more pre-bookable appointments so patients can plan ahead
  • Ensure that patients are seen at the appropriate time according to urgency
  • Reduce telephone traffic making it easier to get through when you need to
  • Ensure we are always available to treat and help the most urgent cases
 

Pre-bookable Appointments

You will now be able to book an appointment with a GP up to three months ahead. The further ahead you book, the easier you will find it to see the GP of your choice. These types of appointments are for ongoing problems, medication reviews, sick notes and all other problems that are not urgent i.e., they do not need to be seen in the next 24 hours.

 

Sit & Wait

From Monday 6th December 2021 we will be introducing Sit & Wait clinics every morning between 8.30am and 10.30am. These clinics will be run by both GPs and Nurse Practitioners (who can prescribe just like a GP) and patients will be seen in turn. Patients with conditions suitable to be treated by the Nurse Practitioner will be seen by the Nurse Practitioner rather than a GP.

There will no longer be “on the day” urgent slots – all patients who feel their condition needs to be seen on an urgent basis i.e., cannot wait 24hrs or longer to be seen will be invited to come down to the sit and wait clinic that day.

Any patients arriving after 10.30am will be advised that they cannot be seen and it will be suggested they come back the following day for the next sit and wait clinic unless they are a medical emergency in which case they will be directed to the On-Call GP.

Sometimes a patient coming for a sit and wait appointment needs to be seen urgently and they will be moved to the front of the queue on the basis of clinical need – the Receptionist will message the doctor running the clinic and the doctor will decide if they need to be seen sooner rather than waiting their turn.

Patients who abuse this system will be challenged by the clinician they are seeing if it is felt that you have wasted a sit and wait appointment for a condition that could have been booked into a routine appointment.

We have taken this step in response to patient feedback – we are continually adapting our systems to try and make it easier for our patients to get the most appropriate appointment when they need it and hope that this will alleviate some of the problems you have been experiencing trying to get through to us on the phone.

The Doctors & Staff, De Montfort Surgery

Published: Nov 16, 2021