(Time to read: 7 minutes)

GP practices are complicated beasts these days. So many different services are being delivered by an increasingly wide range of practitioners, supported by a diverse range of additional offerings provided by external care providers. Throw into the mix the increasing choice of tech-based access and appointment delivery methods, the increasing use of locums which reduces GP continuity and the various additional services offered by practices, and the landscape is a complex one – for practices and patients alike.

The above means that the role of the practice manager is multi-faceted and requires a wide range of skills – and given the multifarious nature of practices communication can be added to the long list of required skills. Just how do you communicate the full range of services and benefits that your practice offers and how do you get patients accessing the right services, whether within your practice or not?

One solution is to throw your doors open to the public for an open day – a method that’s becoming increasingly common. One practice turning to an open day is Oaks Healthcare in Portsmouth, which is hosting an event following the merger of two practices in the city.

Karen Jeffries, business manager for Oaks Healthcare, which was previously Cowplain Family Practice and Queenswood Surgery, told The News: “Staff will show patients around the building and some of the GPs and management staff will be on hand to talk to patients about the forthcoming changes and answer any questions. It is hoped the open day will be useful for patients currently registered at Queenswood who will be moving to the other site, which is more modern and has better access.”

Benefits

By opening your doors to the general public, an open day will give you the chance to grow your practice and attract new patients. It is also a good opportunity to enhance ongoing communication with your existing patients. Your event should be a great reason for people to have a look around, chat to your team and find out more about what the practice has to offer. Benefits of doing this include:

Enrol new patients – It’s an opportunity for new residents and patients looking to switch practices to sign-up.

Provide practice information – If changes have been made, new services added and so on, it’s a great opportunity to explain why those changes have been made and the benefits to patients.

Introduce new staff – maybe you’ve been successful in finding a new GP, or you’ve added a pharmacist, nurse or even a paramedic to your team – this is a good opportunity to introduce them and explain what care they will provide.

Signposting – open days are a brilliant opportunity to highlight alternative care providers and demonstrate where patients can turn, rather than automatically heading to their GP practice. Hand out flyers showing the alternatives – one of our favourites is the one used here by Strathesk Medical Practice (scroll down to view the signposting leaflet).

Promote additional services – do your patients know you offer travel vaccinations or driving medicals etc? Promote your additional, money-making services!

Build relationships – it’s a chance to work with  local care providers, which can help build better working relationships.

Educate staff – open days can be great motivation for staff – they can be fun and they also encourage staff to learn about care alternatives and signposting, especially as they are likely to be challenged by patients.

Make money – why not invite local equipment or service providers to exhibit. One practice invited a local office products supplier, who sold ergonomic workplace accessories and workplace assessment services. As well as helping people to reduce the likes of backache and repetitive strain injury, the practice received a commission for all sales and a small fee for the exhibition space.

A case study

An interesting open day idea used by Mitchison Road Surgery in London was to create a Health & Wellness Open Day for all members of the public.

The successful event was well-attended, despite inclement weather, and attracted members of the general public, registered patients, PPG members, local councillors and CCG representatives.

Introductions to the new GPs at Mitchison Road Surgery, while the event helped to promote the role and benefits of Mitchison Road Surgery, as well as raising awareness about a number of local healthcare service providers accessible through the surgery for patients and residents of Islington.

Local service providers included London Ambulance Service who demonstrated CPR techniques and how to use a defibrillator, Hillside Clubhouse, a provider of personalised support and social inclusion for people with mental health needs, Mental Health Working, Voice Ability, New River Green Children’s Centre who provide education and care support for children aged six months to five years, Islington Carers Hub and More-Life Islington, a specialist weight management service for children and young people.

The aim of this event was to improve patient experience at Mitchison Road Surgery and for the wider community to learn what we have to offer.

Secrets of open day success

How do you create a great open day? Here are 22 top tips:

1. Plan well – think about what you want to achieve.
2. Don’t be afraid to target your open day. You could be focusing on new parents or you could create a wellbeing at work event, involving local businesses. Whatever you do, the point above must always be at the forefront of your mind.
3. Have a meeting with all your staff to ensure team participation. Be systematic and write down the basic details. This is a great opportunity to make it into a great team event.
4. Decide on the date and time – ensure that it doesn’t clash with other local events and give yourself at least three months. pick a suitable time. Weekends and evenings are good accessible times for the majority of people; think about who you are targeting and when they might be free.
5. Establish a budget for the likes of printing, catering, adverts etc.
6. Involve your staff by giving them real responsibility and incentives.
7. What will attract people? Give people a reason to attend. Talk to local businesses about any offers or discounts they could share – discounts from gyms, maybe something for a prize draw. Health and wellbeing is a big issue and popular with people – so sell the health-giving benefits of attending.
8. If you are talking about the practice, keep it short, light and informal – keep it short and sweet but be available for questions later.
9. Inviting an organisation like the British Red Cross to deliver first aid training can be a useful hook – their taster child first aid courses could be attractive.
10. Could you offer desk-based massages delivered by a local firm?
11. Healthy eating is big business – is there a local health food shop you could work with to offer healthy snacks or drinks?
12. In addition, could a nutritionist deliver advice on portion control, understanding fat content and trying healthy snacks such as rice cakes, hummus and nuts. Think who could help you locally.
13. Could you offer an interactive session – e.g. ‘Know your numbers’ health check – appointment with a nurse to check height, weight, BMI, general lifestyle, cholesterol and blood sugar.
14. Be realistic with numbers – how many people could you cope with? Overcrowding your practice will not allow people to see it fully or gain a positive one-on-one view.
15. Will you need a process to ensure that your team can record enquiries?
16. Create some posters and leaflets that sell the benefits of attendance – maybe ask a local design agency to do this for you? They may well be willing to donate their time.
17. Get those posters into local pharmacies, shops, libraries, community centres, health clubs, swimming pools and public buildings.
18. Contact your local paper – make your event interesting and be positive – what you are contributing to health in the community, how much better off your patients will be, etc.
19. Use word of mouth – tell your existing patients about it and ask them to bring a friend or family member along.
20. Ensure your practice website is up-to-date with the details of your event.
21. Use social media – use Facebook and Twitter to get your friends and contacts to share and tweet about your event.
22. You are ‘selling’ yourself, the staff, your services and the practice. Think about your image; take trouble with the way you and your staff dress.

And finally…

When it comes to organising an open day, you’re not alone. Could members of your PPG help you organise the event? Or, could you follow the lead of Ashwell Medical Centre in Bradford and recruit volunteer Practice Health Champions?

The practice successfully recruited Health Champions who are tasked with encouraging others to improve their health and wellbeing. Each champion attended a two-day training course that developed knowledge, skills, experience and passion. Following that, they meet regularly with GP practice staff to identify and explore health concerns and issues which affect patients of the practice, including through communication and events.

Do you think open days can be of benefit to practices? What works, what doesn’t? Please share your thoughts below or head to the Practice Index forum thread here.

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