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Case Study - updated

Positive outcomes for Ivy Medical Group patients and staff when using the Online Consultation triage system.

Since April 2023, The Ivy Medical Group has been using ‘total triage’ to manage all patient enquiries.

Using Accurx Patient Triage, all telephone, desk or online enquiries and requests for appointments are now directed through a single triage system. This removes the ‘8am telephone rush’ and associated pressure for both patients and the reception team.

All requests are processed through the same system, enabling the reception team to triage appropriately and more fairly.

A fairer and more effective way of allocating appointments

In-person GP appointments are allocated upon clinical need rather than being the first person in the telephone queue, whilst other patients could receive telephone appointments or prescriptions. 

The new system has been in place for over a year, and the impact has been positive for patients and practice staff.

Overall, recent patient feedback has been positive:
“Better than calling and holding until someone can answer.”
“Great for quick questions that would otherwise takes ages on the phone.”
“I’m really pleased with the new system. Thanks for taking on board patient’s thoughts and creating a more workable solution for patient care.”

Quicker triaging of clinical requests

The new system has also enabled quicker and more appropriate triaging of clinical requests, including for suspected cancer.

For example, a patient recently contacted the surgery thinking they had an infected insect bite.  However, by requesting a photo of the suspected bite, the triaging clinician was able to correctly diagnose the lesion as rapid growth skin cancer.  

The clinician made a two-week cancer referral the same day.  Six weeks later, the patient was back in the surgery having stitches out after the successful removal of the cancer the previous week.

“To me, that’s triage at its best. Being able to get to those dangerous and potentially fatal cases quickly. It proves the benefit of a total triage system.”
“If the patient had been unable to get an appointment, they probably would have left it, thinking it was an insect bite. And that could have been fatal.”
Melanie Maddock
Practice Manager at Ivy Medical Group

Positive impact for practice staff

The new triage system has had a positive impact for the practice team as well as patients. Team morale has already improved, with reduced anxiety and a confidence that the new system provides a better patient experience.

Staff morale has improved as they are able to prioritise patients appropriately.  The team are less stressed as the early morning telephone pressure has been reduced.  The Admin teams are able to do their jobs more effectively which is great for everyone involved.

The introduction of triaging online consultations has:

  • enabled more requests to be triaged,
  • quicker referrals to the relevant clinical professional,
  • freed up GP in-person appointments for those who really need them.
Data captured in March 2024 showed, the Ivy Medical Group accommodates nearly 90% of their appointments face-to-face. This is +7% higher than the local average within their PCN, and almost 17% higher than the national average.

To find out more how Online Consultations can help your practice, email the Digital Notts team at nnicb-nn.digital.notts@nhs.net