Chelston Hall Surgery
eConsult Case Study
Key stats
- Patient List size: 12,700
- Launched: 18th January 2017
- Model: Routine Clinic
Case Study Key messages:
- Only 20% of eConsults submitted need GP involvement, with 40% being administrative requests
- Increased remote closures means face to face appointments are being saved
- Able to manage surgery resources more efficiently and appropriately, giving a better experience for doctors and patients whilst saving money
What is the biggest benefit of using eConsult?: By moving all our admin requests to eConsult at Chelston Hall Surgery meant we dealt with these more efficiently as they were sent straight to the admin team, and we saw a 10% reduction in the call volume coming into the practice.
At Chelston Hall Surgery we’re trying to revolutionise traditional GP practice models to save our staff time and make sure that the patients who come into the practice are the ones who need to see us the most. We used to have a telephone triage system as well as walk-in appointments, but our patients often complained that the lines were busy. With so many patients, we were worried than any increase would make it difficult to manage demand effectively and safely.
“We usually have 500 phone calls in the first half hour of the practice opening – actually, it’s much easier to consult with your GP online, evenwhen the practice is closed”
Practice Manager
We decided to use eConsult as another channel for accessing GPs in the practice, but we didn’t advertise it much to patients at first. Our GPs were worried this might add to their workload, but by including slots for reviewing eConsults into the normal work day, we realised this was quite efficient.
As we got more comfortable using eConsult from a practice perspective, we started marketing it to patients more. We did this through a pre-recorded message on our voicemail as well as running training sessions in the waiting room so that people felt comfortable and supported when using eConsult for the first time. That was one of the most important things for us starting to use it – and actually, patients love it, and more of them are using it.
“I feel that this is a great system which takes away unnecessary
Patient
appointments and allows the doctor to see those most in need. This is also backed up with advice and services from the NHS”
Now, we have about 20 eConsults coming in on an average day, which get added to the doctor’s list as well as patients who have called in and need to be triaged. eConsults are managed by our trained admin team, so it also takes pressure off our reception team. It’s great that patients can also get NHS content and self-help advice through eConsult, so if they don’t think they need an appointment, they can check their symptoms and get
advice online from the GP or pharmacy.
By moving all our admin requests to eConsult at Chelston Hall Surgery meant we dealt with these more efficiently as they were sent straight to the admin team, and we saw a 10% reduction in the call volume coming into the practice.
