Non-urgent advice: Register for online appointments
Overview
We wish to share some very exciting news about a significant change to our appointment system that will improve the way our surgery delivers care to all our patients.
GP practices across the UK are moving to a ‘Modern General Practice’ model to make access to care and treatment easier for patients and help improve patient satisfaction. This is a national NHS project, and all surgeries must adopt the system eventually.
From 2 June 2025, we will be moving to a total triage system.
What is total triage?
Total triage is a general practice workflow where every patient contacting a surgery first provides some information on the reasons for contact and is triaged before making an appointment.
All patient requests will be triaged by one of our experienced clinicians who will decide what the best course of action is. Where necessary, we might ask you to answer a few additional questions to help our clinician prioritise those patients who need more urgent care.
You could be given a face-to-face or telephone appointment, a reply from the GP with self-care advice, or you could be signposted to a more appropriate service.
Please note that nurse appointments are not affected and remains the same as before if you need it for cervical screening, wound management, bloods, etc.
The main purpose of the total triage model is to:
- enhance the quality of care our patients receive
- ensure they are given the most appropriate appointment or advice to meet their needs
- communicate with patients in a timely way
- move away from first come first served approach to one based on patient needs
How does it work?
Ideally, practice could work better with patients submitting requests via Patchs, however we appreciate that this may not be possible for some patients. If you are unable to use or access the practice online form, then please contact the surgery in the usual way and we will complete the request for you and add you to the triage list to be reviewed by the clinician.
After your request has been reviewed, you will either receive a call to be offered an appointment with the most appropriate clinician or you might receive a message with advice.
Please note that in order for the clinician to triage your request in a timely manner, it is very important to provide detailed and accurate information about your symptoms when you contact us in the first place. For example, if a patient has a cough, it would be much easier to triage the request with the following information:
“I had a cough for 10 days. I have already used over the counter medicine, but it is not helping and in the last couple of days my cough has been worsening and it feels chestier. I also have a high temperature.”
If the information given is less detailed, such as “I had a cough for 10 days,” it makes it harder for the clinician to triage and we will need to request further information which could delay treatment.
The total triage service will be open Monday to Friday. During the weekend or bank holidays, please continue to use the 111 service or call 999 for life-threatening emergencies. Please note there me be times when we may temporarily suspend the online triage form to help manage the demand, in that case we advise you to ring the surgery.
How does this benefit you?
We know that change can be difficult sometimes, but we are confident that total triage will bring many benefits to our patients:
Benefits
- Total triage has been shown to reduce waiting times and it enables us to attend to your medical needs more promptly.
- Using digital communication will mean that you can engage with us from the comfort of your home or workplace.
- Triage ensures that limited healthcare resources are allocated to patients who need them most urgently.
- Total triage will address the increasing demand for appointments and reduce the frustration of having to call and be in a long queue at 8am.
If you have any questions or concerns our team is here to guide and support, you can contact the surgery.
What if I have trouble using the new system?
We hope to support patients and their families/carers to get used to the new way of contacting the surgery and to become comfortable with this over time. We will, of course, provide additional support to those patients who are unable to use online resources.
If you do not have online access, or experience other difficulties using digital technology, please speak to our reception team about how we can help you in your usual way.
Do I have to share personal information with a receptionist if I ring/walk-in?
It is important you give us as much relevant information as possible so we can ensure your request is triaged properly. We understand some issues can be sensitive. Our reception team are trained in asking difficult questions and have signed confidentiality documents. Their role is paramount to provide health services to our patients.
Can I walk into the surgery to make an appointment?
We strongly discourage patients from walking in to make an appointment. Primary care has never been an emergency service – if a patient needs immediate medical attention, you should ring 111 or go direct to A&E.
If a patient walks in, they will be treated the same as anyone sending an online consult or ringing the surgery. The receptionist will ask you to complete an appointment request form, and you will be added to the triage list to be assessed. It does not speed up your enquiry – we manage the requests based on a safety system.
Why can’t I just book an appointment like I used to?
Nationally, GP capacity can no longer meet the demand and so we must put systems in place to ensure our patient gets the most appropriate safe care. Healthcare is evolving, and we need to embrace this.
Will this help the telephone system?
We recently upgraded our telephone system to include a call back service which has worked very well. We hope if more patients use the online system, it will significantly reduce waiting times on the phone for those who need to call for other reasons.