Questions What are the results of the Triage trial for GP appointment systems which took place in early 2012 see response from PCT to first recommendation – below, and extract from Enter and View in Appendix 1 at a surgery which was taking part in this trial Are other ways that GPs are working to improve their booking system? Are Hackney GP’s offering enough appointments? (eg if multiply average time someone visits GP by number of patients on the list) What is the rate of non attendance? And how are GPs looking at reducing this? Is there evidence that any groups for example young people, people not – speaking English well, are using A&E because of the difficulty of accessing GP? How do GPs offer appointments to people who cannot speak English well? [ 20% of Hackney residents identified in the 2011 Census that they spoke English well” or not at all”] “not “ How many GPs offer online appointment booking? And what is the take up? How do GPs address any issues for people with learning disabilities and making appointments? [We have not had comments from people with learning disabilities about the appointment system directly, but have had comments that they have not had their yearly health check]. Is there any research to show if there are some patients who would prefer drop-in service however long they had to wait to booking service? – – received comments the difficulty of looking after disabled or hyperactive children in the waiting room do surgeries have ways of – prioritising these patients? many practices still use and 084 number? Do they offer a landline number as well? Recommendations/Questions to PCT related to this, and responses Recommendation/Question from Hackney Response from Commissioner for Primary Care NHS LINk North and the City Triage System The triage system at Allerton is part of a national pilot. Information is being collected on demand and As a result of the feedback about capacity, and will be analysed in September in appointment systems a new triage comparison to previous systems, and an action plan system is being trialed in some Hackney developed. Practices receive £5000 to implement practices, including the Allerton the system, which we encourage them to spend on practice, where LINk carried out and
Questions What are the results of the Triage trial for GP appointment systems which took place in early 2012 – see response from PCT to first recommendation below, and extract from Enter and View in Appendix 1 at a surgery which was taking part in this trial Are other ways that GPs are working to improve their booking system? Are Hackney GP’s offering enough appointments? (eg if multiply average time someone visits GP by number of patients on the list) What is the rate of non attendance? And how are GPs looking at reducing this? Is there evidence that any groups – for example young people, people not speaking English well, are using A&E because of the difficulty of accessing GP? How do GPs offer appointments to people who cannot speak English well? [ 20% of Hackney residents identified in the 2011 Census that they spoke English “not well” or “ not at all”] How many GPs offer online appointment booking? And what is the take up? How do GPs address any issues for people with learning disabilities and making appointments? [We have not had comments from people with learning disabilities about the appointment system directly, but have had comments that they have not had their yearly health check]. Is there any research to show if there are some patients who would prefer drop-in service – however long they had to wait – to booking service? received comments the difficulty of looking after disabled or hyperactive children in the waiting room – do surgeries have ways of prioritising these patients? many practices still use and 084 number? Do they offer a landline number as well? Recommendations/Questions to PCT related to this, and responses Recommendation/Question from Hackney LINk Response from Commissioner for Primary Care NHS North and the City Triage System As a result of the feedback about appointment systems a new triage system is being trialed in some Hackney practices, including the Allerton practice, where LINk carried out and The triage system at Allerton is part of a national pilot. Information is being collected on demand and capacity, and will be analysed in September in comparison to previous systems, and an action plan developed. Practices receive £5000 to implement the system, which we encourage them to spend on
2013-Healthwatch-Hackney-report-GP-appointment-system-Update-Nov-213.docx