Online Booking systems. Challenges and opportunities. Effects of Covid. 

OK? Can you tell me a little bit about your experience of accessing GP services recently? Yeah, it's changed significantly over the last couple of years. Uh, you know, at the beginning, uh, of the whole pandemic thing. It was a question of calling the GP surgery to to book in an appointment. And it's gone from that to, uh, no, it's a very convoluted system

Uh, I think the right intentions are there. But the last time I tried to book an appointment for my son, it involves something like 10 clicks on a webpage and then submitting a form and the form said, You can't fill it in if you're under 16. So I did it in my name, my kid

And then they called me back from the surgery the next day and said, er, you, you've got this wrong. You had to fill it in as your child and still tick the box that you're over 16. Can you resubmit it? So that was another 10 clicks and another five minutes of time

I get that. It's about triage and, uh, prioritising use of resources and routine appointments. Bottom of the pile

But it shouldn't be overly complex to book a routine appointment for a five year old. It's just for me that's not meeting the standards that we should be expecting from GP surgeries. I also understand these things are put together in a rush and on a budget in a pandemic

So there's a bit of leeway there, but we could do better on these systems. Independent GP surgeries probably shouldn't be able to source these things themselves would be my suggestion. And are you Were you given the option to move to that style of booking? Or were you just informed that that's how it was now? No, I I was told there was no other way to access GP services, and the doctors have decided this is how it should be done

And again, I understand the need for prioritising and triaging in a pandemic. Uh, I get that, but it shouldn't be that complicated. It takes an adult, uh, with years of I t experience two visits to a Web page, 20 minutes of his time and phone calls from the surgery to resolve

But that that's clearly not fit for purpose, is it? No, that sounds really difficult a bit challenging. Um, what about your experience when you have seen the GP. Have you got anything that you want to share about that? Yeah, Uh, not just myself

I'm a carer for a relative as well. Uh, and I have Children, of course. So I I've had to access GP surgeries for a variety of reasons in a variety of situations

Uh, I've even been to the out of hours with with the relative I care for too many times in the last six months or so. Uh, yeah, it sometimes accessing a GP can prove very difficult. Uh, I myself have been to see the the practise nurse instead

That's fine. But, uh, when it comes to changing GP surgery, I've had to do that, uh, for a relative and and accessing things, there can be real barriers in place. I mean, I understand that, uh, actually, seeing somebody, uh, is obviously a covid risk

But this relative of mine had a bad infection in her leg, and they ended up requiring a lot of hospital treatment because I feel it wasn't spotted early enough by a hands on assessment by a GP. Uh, that was at a different surgery to my own. Uh, and they've They're now at a different surgery

Still. So, uh, these things cause such barriers to access that sometimes people are having to move surgeries just so that they can get basic health care. Yeah, that's really difficult

Really difficult. Um, is there anything that you think could easily change? Or as you've mentioned, kind of more face to face is anything else that you've thought about. I mean, I understand a lot of it's about resourcing and triaging, and that's just the way the health system has to work, especially in a pandemic

So there is a lot of leeway in this. I think, uh, there's such variety in the surgeries have experienced. And in the out of hours, uh, and even in the hospital treatment that that my relatives have needed in the last two years uh, the I think maybe a little more central organisation

My if if something centrally sourced, uh, a Web page for triage and booking in patients that might have less button clicks and be more accessible for elderly people and younger people than than the systems I've experienced. Uh, clearly, there's a real role for the advanced, Uh, nursing practitioners here, which is I have no complaint about our whatsoever. Uh, I've been able to see them instead of a GP, and it's worked out fine

But I know that relatives of mine that that have relied on others to book these appointments for him haven't received the standard of care that that the GPS would like to deliver. You know, nobody is wanting a guy with a badly infected leg to not not be seen for that long that he needs hospitalisation. Yet that has happened more than once in this case, uh, far from ideal in a pandemic, right? Absolutely

Er, can I ask you a little bit about you've mentioned, um, seeing the advanced nurse practitioner. Was that something that you were offered as an alternative to a GP appointment? How does that work? At that time, I believe we were booking things through an app which didn't give you much, much choice that that that was before we've instituted this new, uh, system, uh, on the website. So the app was quite straightforward, but, uh, you had limited options to what you could book and, uh, you know, seeing a nurse, it's fine if if a nurse can cover it

Yeah, absolutely no complaint about the treatment I've received. Personally, the only frustration I've had is booking one in, uh, for a family member for a routine appointment, which, to be fair in a pandemic, is definitely a low tier stuff. Uh, the good resolution, though, is we finally got on that appointment, and it was absolutely brilliant and and, you know, and my son definitely got the health care he needed and got a lot out of it, uh, to be fair

So the service works it it it's not in the delivery of the service. It's about accessing it, Which is the the current issue. Yeah

Thanks for those reflections. Is there anything else that you'd like to share? Uh, the out of hours service is rather good. You know, uh, I've had to use them quite a bit recently because my relatives tends to only tell me things when the GPS are closed

So when you've got them on a video call like this and they say, Just have a look at my leg. And the only reaction is that's either A&E or out of hours. You're gonna try the the least impactful thing

First, incidentally, test and Trace told me that I caught covid from A&E. They they They were quite certain about that. Uh, so there are certainly some some problems there

Uh, Royalton Hospital A&E. Definitely. Definitely

Ram packed. Far too busy, Not enough staff to to deal with the influx and all this is understandable. It really is

But yeah. Um, I got covid and test and Trace. I'm pretty sure that's where I'm from, so my final reflection would be it

It's not just GP surgeries that are struggling at this time. Understandably. Er it's just a messy situation for healthcare all around, isn't it? Yeah

Thank you very much. Thank you.

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