Practice Index recently hosted an incredibly popular podcast to discuss the success of the new triage system at St Lawrence Surgery in Sussex, which has revolutionised patient access and reduced GP workload.
Alongside the podcast, we also hosted a lunchtime webinar where Jo Wadey, Business Manager and Dr David Stokes, the lead clinician who pioneered the programme talked in more depth about how they developed and implemented the new system.
Both the webinar and podcast were well received and led to an influx of comments and questions, not to mention, pleas for guidance on “how can I put this in place at my practice?!”
To help answer as many of the questions as possible, David has recorded four videos, which cover the main topics and considerations. You can view the full videos here or see a breakdown of the questions answered in each video below.
This positive feedback has also prompted David to develop an online course which can help other practices develop their own clinician-led triage system and unlock their hidden effective capacity. The course is made up of seven modules, delivered over 15 lessons, as well as bi-weekly drop-in coaching sessions. A 50% discount is available for a limited time for Practice Index members, using code PI50.
Questions answered include:
- How does our triage system work with e-consults or online triage?
- How does our system differ from, for example, e-consult/ask my GP or Klinic?
- How does it work with online access for appointment bookings?
- Do these bypass the triage?
- Do I see the next iteration of this model incorporating online platforms or using online platforms for triaging instead?
Questions answered include:
- How do we ensure our most vulnerable patients have good access?
- How many calls were we getting a week before the new system was introduced?
- How long is the average wait on the phone now compared to before?
- How many minutes do we allow clinicians, per patient, to call the patient back?
- How do we avoid patients visiting the surgery at 8am if they can’t get through on the phone?
- How do we manage patients who refuse to give the patient services team any information?
- What is our balance of routine versus urgent on the day?
- How do patients book in for chronic disease checks?
- How are people booked in for nurse appointments?
- How are administration calls dealt with?
- How many DNAs do we get?
- How do we show the workload done (by the triaging clinician)?
- Who is our phone company?
Questions answered include:
- Do we have reception managers or a senior receptionist?
- How many people do we have answering the phone at one time?
- How often do the receptionists swap out over the day?
- How do we manage non-clinical complex queries or complaints?
- Do we have a set script for the receptionists when they answer calls?
- Do we have a set number of calls on the triage screen?
- What do we do with any overflow on the day?
- Does clinician-led total triage de-skill the reception team?
- Do we think eventually you might get to the position where your staff answering the phone can assess the clinical risk and book in with the right member of staff?
Questions answered include:
- What are the demographics of our practice?
- How can this system be applied to different sorts of practices, perhaps some smaller ones or bigger multi-site practices?
- Did you encounter, and how would you handle, any resistance from colleagues who may not be quite so keen to try something different?
If you’re interested in finding out more, the full course is now available, with 50% off for Practice Index members for a limited time (use code PI50).
Please note, this course does not form part of any Practice Index package and is managed and administered by David Stokes himself. If you have any enquiries or technical queries on the course or accessibility, please contact David via email – [email protected]
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