Patient Notice: Change to Appointment System

Here is a short video to explain the changes taking place on Monday 16th November.

Even with a full complement of GPs and other front-line staff, your surgery is still struggling to meet demand for appointments. We want to be able to be more responsive when you need us, so we are having another go at a more efficient appointment system.

This change is an enhancement rather than a wholesale redesign, and it aims to build on the strengths of the current arrangements and what’s been learned throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. We are not removing any method of accessing the practice.

The plan is to promote the use of the existing online ‘E-consult’* system. This is going to help sort out and prioritise requests for appointments, and will form the backbone of the new system.

If you are able to, go online at www.falklandsurgery.co.uk and find ‘E-consult’ on the brown tab. You can go directly at falklandsurgery.webgp.com

  • On the first page go to the general area of your symptoms.
  • On the second page if you think you need to see a doctor go to ‘I want treatment & advice from my GP’
  • Then follow the questions through. This will advise the surgery about your
    symptoms and worries.
  • The doctors will see your answers and will ring you back as quickly as is needed. This may be the same day if the problem requires a prompt response, or otherwise within 3 working days.
  • You may be advised to call 111 or 999 to attend the nearest Emergency Department if your symptoms require urgent medical attention
  • You are not able to use this eConsult tool for under 16 yr olds or for someone else, so parents/guardians/carers can still access our appointments via the telephone

If you are not able to go online, call the surgery and ask for someone to take you through the ‘E-consult’ process and do this for you.

  • Follow the questions through. This will advise the surgery about your symptoms and worries. Please note: The Patient Services Adviser going through the questions with you has been specially trained to do this and maintain confidentiality. Their aim is to help you follow the process in order to get the best advice.
  • The doctors will see your answers and will ring you back as quickly as is needed. This may be the same day if the problem requires a prompt response, or otherwise within 3 working days.

In both cases, you will receive a text message letting you know when your eConsult will be dealt with (with the date and AM/PM/Evening allocation.)

Please note that while it may seem like you have to go through a lot of questions, either on the phone or on the eConsult, this is all information which the doctor will need to know when they speak to you, so it is really helpful to understand it in advance.

When you get your call from the doctor, it may be possible to complete the consultation over the phone, but if not, the GP will book you in for a face-to-face consultation.

*Please note that ‘E-consult’ has been extensively tested throughout the country to ensure it is reliable and that it will pick up any ‘red flags’ that would mean you need to get urgent help from 999. It has been in use throughout the country now for many years.

When you have a non-urgent need

When you have a non-urgent need where you would be thinking about booking an
appointment in, say, a week or 10 days’ time these will be filtered out into a ‘not urgent’ time slot.

If you ever need to be seen on a particular day

Say you need to book a morning off work in advance to see the doctor – you can request that.

Seeing a Particular Doctor

You can also request through E-consult to see a particular doctor, which can be helpful if they’ve already been dealing with an issue.

Appointments to see a nurse or for repeat prescriptions don’t need to go through E-consult, and can be sorted out on the website, the app or by ringing the surgery as usual.

Feedback

The new system is due to start on 16th November.

After you’ve given it a fair trial, the surgery would love to hear from you how you are finding the new system so it can continue to be improved in future.

You can email the Patients’ Participation group at falklandppg@gmail.com and we will make sure your comments are heard.