Gp- appointments via online triage?

[Flyhigher]

Hi,
Does anyone know how this works?

Our GP practice has had this as an option for sometime and it has worked for me. Much easier than hanging on the phone for ever trying to get through. Outline what the issue is, symptoms and any other relevant info and what you want - telephone appointment, face to face etc. I have had responses ranging from within an hour for something I was very concerned about, to 48 hours later for a more routine review issue. Always got a timely face to face appointment when necessary.

It's brilliant - I send an econsult, it's normally triaged in an hour and I either get something like a prescription sent to a pharmacy, a call from a GP or a same day appt

It'll be different for every single surgery so this thread is probably not really going to help you. Ours opens at 8am online, closes at 2pm and you then get a text with 'you have an appointment with doctor X at X time and date' emergencies are still seen on the same day. 111 outside of this.

Yes. Another vote for this. It’s made it so much easier to get an appointment. All I can think of is it’s managed to get rid of the time wasters who perhaps too far more than their share, so the rest of us can get one when we need it!

Ours is crap, sorry but I can't answer the phone at work and whenever I've done one they have ignored my request for email consultation or a face to face and tried to ring me. Maybe it's our doctors surgery that's the problem but I really don't like it and doesn't work well for me.

Where do you work that you can't answer a quick call from the doc? That's mental.

Our surgery is dire. By the time you can actually get the e-consult page to load, you get a message saying all e-consults are full for that day and try again tomorrow to complete the form.

I've gone back to phoning them.

A high school.

I'm sure there must be other jobs where you also can't answer your phone.

Loads of jobs don't allow you to carry a personal phone when you're working!

There are many jobs where you can't take personal calls at work. This includes many health service jobs. Unfortunately health service systems themselves ignore this.

Our surgery only does these and has done since the early days of Covid pandemic. If you phone them, you're told to fill in the online form and if you say you can't / don't have internet access, the receptionist fills one in for you as you speak.

You then get a call or a text from a nurse or receptionist to say within 24/48 hours to say either that they have prescribed X and the prescription has been sent to your nominated pharmacy, or that the doctor would like to speak to you on the phone, or to offer you an in-person appointment.

I am not a regular GP visitor thankfully but from what I have seen so far, the system seems to work quite well. The only think I would say is that the form can be quite long and convoluted and sometimes if it's just a quick query, eg checking test results or querying something, there's not really an option for that.

I can't imagine how people without good written English manage though, and there are a lot of them around here.

Wow what a sheltered life I've led. I'd always make an exception for my staff members in any role I've managed if they're waiting on a doctors call. Health comes first!

Works really well for us. Fill in a form. Can attach pics. Doc doing triage duty will decide whether to see you in person or if a phone appt would do, or will sort you out without seeing you if appropriate. They always see kids at our surgery.

My preferences mean that they then text me with what they think/have arranged, I can then text back (but it’s via a link they send, so I fill out another form to reply back to them). No calls needed.

Saves so much time and energy queuing on the phone for an appt and saves time going to the surgery if not needed.

I personally find it really useful. Our surgery is pretty good with these. Submit the form online and usually get a text message with an appointment (could be face to face or just telephone)

For something less urgent it takes about 2 days, but something a bit more urgent I usually get a call back the same day

Ours also asks if there's any time that's unsuitable for a call so no issues of them ringing when I can't pick up :)

Some places can't allow phones for security reasons. A friend of mine works at an MoD building and they have to turn their mobiles off before they arrive, lock them away on arrival and collect when they leave for the day and can't switch on again until out of the building.

There are other parts of the Civil Service with similar requirements if people are working on especially sensitive issues. I expect MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are similarly strict, if not stricter.

I would also imagine some private security companies, some laboratories and some factories have similar rules. Probably lots of other places too.

Ours is shit but then our surgery is pretty poor all round.

You have to fill in a form, there's no other way to make an appointment or ask for a repeat prescription. The form closes when they get busy (this varies day to day). The information on the form is "assessed" by an algorithm initially - it only goes to a person near to when you will be seen by a doctor.

If the algorithm determines that you are contacting the surgery about an existing problem and that you have symptoms that don't involve immediate risk to life, it assesses you as routine. So an actual person doesn't read the information you've given for around six weeks. If you are contacting about an existing problem with more serious symptoms, it boots you off and tells you to go to A&E.

If you tick the box saying that it's a new problem you get seen quicker.

@HelloHappyCampers. Where do you work where you can take a doctors callback? In most companies you can't take calls!

To be honest I think the opposite is true - I've had a varied worklife and out of the those jobs, in only one I couldn't take personal calls.

My GP surgery has online triage. It mostly works well but you have to get in early as they can reach capacity quickly and then you have to wait for the next day. Fine for some routine things but not so great if you need antibiotics for a UTI or something like that.

When that has happened to me I've been able to call and get sorted that way. Probably helps that I'm pregnant and they're keen to sort chest infections and UTIs out quickly. Perhaps I won't be so lucky after the birth!

It does help that I have a routine office job and can usually easily answer the phone if they need to speak to me. It wouldn't work as well if I worked in a shop or a school for example.

In general they either send a plan of action by text e.g. drop off a sample and take these antibiotics or they get reception to send you an appointment.

My surgery works like this and it works brilliantly. If I need to be seen I'm seen the same day (UTI) If I don't, I'm not( COVID).

Generally, I think my surgery is pretty good.

it depends on your issue and your ability to fill the form. It’s quite long and complicated. If you are not sure what your problem is it’s much more difficult. Then you had a wait 5-6 weeks for a routine appointment, less for urgent but urgent should be quite urgent.
You can’t choose phone or F2F it’s up to doctor to decide so again works in some situations but not in others.

Literally any company I've worked at for the past 25+ years 😄 and that's been a lot. Finance, insurance, investments all sorts. I didn't ask when i was junior (now management), I'd just say I'm expecting a doctors call so I'll have my phone on me today. Most places we havent had to hide phones away anyway.

I've even had a call when in client meetings and said I have to take this call its from the doctor and they quite understand. Work places are full of reasonable humans who also have health issues so I can't see why you'd put yourself out and risk your health but 'having to put your phone away' - MI5 and those security type jobs excluded. Even as a teacher - I'm sure you could take a 1 minute call just outside the room if absolutely needed.

Showing your privilege there, office job by any chance, many places don't allow phones, I worked in food manufacturing and people working with food had to lock their phones in their lockers for hygiene reasons.

Privilege?? 🤣🤣 what the hell does that even mean. Nonsense. I'm not privileged because I've chosen a different career to you.