Patient Triage (accuRx)

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What if I do not have access to the internet or struggle to complete forms?

Please telephone the practice and the reception team will be happy to assist you.

How long will it take to hear from the practice?

Once the information you have provided has been triaged by our clinical team you will be contacted within 24 working hours. When the surgery contacts you it will either be by text, email or by a phone call. You may be offered either an appointment with the most appropriate person within our team, such as a doctor, social prescriber, pharmacist, nurse, paramedic etc, advice, or you may be directed to healthcare services within our community.

Why do I need to complete a form or answer the questions the reception team ask me?

So that the team who look at all the information submitted can provide you with the appointment or advice you need with the right person in the right time period. Hedena Health now has a number of additional practitioners working alongside the GP’s. These include Social Prescribers, Clinical Pharmacist, Paramedics, Care Coordinators and a Trainee Nurse Associate. It may be more appropriate for you to see or speak to them.

Will I get an appointment quicker if I speak to reception instead?

The reception team will no longer be booking appointments directly without them being triaged by a clinician. All methods of completing the triage forms, either online, in person or over the phone will be assessed equally.

I don’t feel comfortable telling reception about my medical issue

Please be assured that anything you discuss with a receptionist will be treated with absolute privacy and respect. All staff within the Hedena Health team, including receptionists, sign a confidentiality agreement, meaning anything you discuss with them is not shared inappropriately.

What if English is not my main spoken language?

In the same way that clinicians frequently use an official translation service on the phone the receptionists will also be able to access this if the patient they are speaking to is on the phone or in person in the surgery.

Does this mean I won’t see a GP anymore?

No the idea is the opposite. Patient Triage is just a preliminary way of collecting information to ensure you are seen by the right person in the right way, at the right time, not a way of deflecting medical issues that need contact with a GP.

Who will be interpreting these forms?

The medical form will be triaged by a senior clinician in the practice , the admin queries by the reception or admin team.

If the receptionist will not make an appointment how does the patient get an appointment on the day if they say they need to see a doctor as they are unwell?

The triaging clinician will be able to determine the urgency of the request and deal with more urgent queries on the same day. All queries will get a response within 24 working hours, with many being dealt with on the same day.

If the patient completes the form either online, in person or over the phone who will get back to them? A patient could become very anxious waiting for a response for up to 24 hours

After the triage process, the appropriate team member will be in contact with the patient – that might be a receptionist, secretary, pharmacist, nurse, paramedic, Health Care assistant, Social Prescriber – depending on the nature of the query submitted.

Will the patient still have a choice of which doctor they see?

There is an option to specify which doctor the patient would like to see. We will try to meet this request, doctor’s availability permitting. We will also ask the patient if they are happy to wait for the consultation with the requested GP, but this may mean that the patient will have to wait longer for their query to be dealt with.

What if the time/day of the appointment doesn’t work for me?

There is a section on the form where you can write down the times that you aren’t available, which our team can avoid when getting in touch with you. If your request is triaged as acute then you will be required to be available at all times.

What happens to a request that I send overnight or at the weekend?

The form is available during working hours. The form is not available during evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays for patient safety.

Can I request an appointment on behalf of someone else?

Yes, you can submit the form on behalf of the patient (although please write on the form that you are doing so) and can put the contact number that we should either contact the patient or their representative on. Please note that due to patient confidentiality we cannot discuss anything about one of our patients unless they have explicitly given permission for us to do so.

Will my request be saved to my record?

Any request you submit about a medical issue will be saved to your record so that whoever calls you or sees you about your problem has your information to hand. If you send us a question about an administrative issue we will only save this to your record if we think it would be helpful to do so (or if you ask us to).

What if I don’t have a mobile phone?

You can still use the contact form if you don’t have a mobile phone, you just need access to the internet such as on a computer or tablet device. You do need to provide a contact number of some kind but this could be a landline if you don’t have a mobile phone.

Will this disadvantage me or my elderly or vulnerable relative?

For those with access to a mobile phone or internet, the new online form will be a more convenient way to contact the practice, which should free up our phone lines for those who really need it – especially those who cannot access the internet for whatever reason. If you or your relative cannot use the form please contact us on the phone as you normally would and we can deal with your query or make you an appointment as you need.

ACCESS PATIENT TRIAGE