Project that helps to cut patient waiting times

EGTON, PART of Leeds-based EMIS Group, has announced the development of a pioneering programme which enables GPs to drastically cut the time patients wait for an appointment.

The online triage programme asks patients to fill in an online form before a GP appointment is allocated.

The firm said this allows staff to deal with patients more effectively, which means they no longer have to navigate the Monday morning phone congestion to access an appointment.

Of 2,500 patients who have used the service since August this year, just 25 per cent needed appointments with GPs. The majority of requests for appointments could be dealt with in writing or by speaking to the patients.

Some were sign-posted to alternative services or self-help information which enabled them to directly access the services they required. Local direct access services are made available on EMIS online triage.

The scheme has been piloted at Stratford Village Surgery in East London.

Calls to reception and DNA rates were halved, and there were fewer unnecessary appointments using the system developed by Egton, part of EMIS Group.

GP Bhupinder Kohli, who is medical director at Stratford Surgery, said clinicians were getting through 30 online patient queries in the time it took to do 18 face-toface consultations – making life easier for patients, clinicians and admin staff alike.

He said: “The team are able to identify which patients require a face-to-face appointment and which ones can be dealt with by referring them to a pharmacist or other specialist, or by simply sending them out paperwork.

“This means it’s much easier to provide appointment slots.”