Tutbury Practice Total Triage
As most people will be aware as from the 1st of June the Tutbury Practice introduced a new system accessing the surgery. This is known as the Total Triage System.
What is Total Triage?
Total Triage is a better, more effective way of dealing with the clinical queries and clinical / appointment requests that patients submit to a surgery. The requests, once received, go to a GP for consideration before anything is done with the query or request (i.e. they become part of the consultation).
Why are we doing this?
Patient demand is understandably ever-increasing, but the way we were operating with access primarily by telephone, wasn’t allowing us to manage that demand and this led to frustration for both our patients and our staff. As an example, in May 2024, we received 12,769 attempted calls into the Practice of which we could only answer 3,959, leaving 8810 unanswered.
Although a lot of the unanswered calls may well relate to constant ring backs, it is an unacceptable situation to continue in this manner. In addition, our patient list has grown 3.8% in 2 years – of which the over 75 age group has grown to 12.1% of our patient list. It was obvious that we needed a rethink. We looked at what some other Practices were doing and from this research, decided on the Total Triage model.
So how does this work?
The new Triage system allows patients to contact the Practice from 6:00am to 2:00 pm every working day to submit a clinical or non-clinical query or request. This avoids the 8.00am rush on the phones. This query / request is done either on-line or by submitting a completed paper copy to the surgery during its opening hours. A more detailed version on how a patient navigates the system can be found by going onto the following: http://thetutburypractice.nhs.uk/total-triage-web/ or by calling in at the surgery and obtaining a hard copy.
This is a new system for us and we are still implementing the changeover, so there will be tweaks and teething issues, but by working together – as we are doing with our wonderful Patient Forum (who have been invaluable in helping us deliver this system) – we will make this work for you. This is not a solution to the crisis in the NHS, but this will enable us to most effectively use our time to deliver quality care to as many of our patients as possible.
How do I access the Triage System?
- Via the surgery website- Please note you will only have access between 6am and 2pm Monday-Friday which is when the Triage Service is operational.
Click on our website The Tutbury Practice – Burton Family GP Practice – thetutburypractice.nhs.uk
Via the NHS APP:
Sign in to your account and Select the “Services” option at the bottom of the screen
Other Options
- If you are happy to do so, ask your carer or member of your family to complete and submit the enquiry for you.
- Attend the practice and manually complete a paper copy of the form. These are available at the reception desk.
- Under certain circumstances, i.e. no internet, mobile home or housebound phone the surgery between 8am and 2pm, explain your situation and the receptionists will go through the form over the phone.
If you require further information, please contact the surgery. Thank you
Tutbury Practice and Tutbury Practice Patient Forum August 2024