Important Notice – Changes to Requesting a GP Appointment
From 30th April 2024, we will be changing the way that our appointments are booked with GPs and Allied Healthcare Professionals for Kings Langley and Longmeadow Surgery.
For appointments with our Nursing Team, please continue to call the surgery.
Patient Triage has been designed to ensure that the patients who most need an appointment, are able to get one.
We have been monitoring internally the increasing demand for appointments and our capacity to meet this demand.
NHSE have published a paper (Delivery plan for recovering access to primary care) outlining their similar concerns. We understand how frustrating it can be for patients to wait in phone queues or queues at the front door at 8am to get an appointment or be told to call back when we are fully booked. We have noticed that many patients are booking GP appointments that do not necessarily require one, and we are concerned that those who need to be seen are not getting seen at the right time.
NHSE has stated that there is good evidence that clinician triage and modern online tools make it easier to manage patient requests and involve the wider team, with higher patient satisfaction rates than with the more traditional model.
What is Patient Triage?
It’s a system that involves a GP triaging all appointment requests before an appointment is given. This means that the GP will determine how quickly an appointment is needed and whether your request would be better dealt with by another member of our multi-disciplinary clinical team or by another service.
Patient Triage System
To make Patient Triage more efficient, we will be expanding the use of our existing online consult system, eConsult. Our online consult system is accessible to everyone, with no need to download an app or log in. All you need is access to the internet, and you can access the system from any device, including your smartphone or tablet. Simply visit our website and click on the ‘Appointments’ box and select ‘Start here’. The Patient Triage form will be available Monday to Friday, 8am to 5:30pm.
With a short and simple set of questions, your completed form will be sent to our Triage GP, and you will receive a response from us in a timely manner. For people that have already used this online Patient Triage system, have been satisfied with the outcome.
If you are not able to complete the form online for some reason, please call the surgery and reception will complete and submit the form for you.
