Online System Updates

An update on the changes coming on 31st March

Following the recent text messages and local discussions on social media, we wanted to update you about the changes coming on 31st March, especially considering patients who do not have online access or might feel disadvantaged by an online system.

Why are you making changes?

Our GP contract states that we must offer an online system for patients to make an appointment request. In 2020, eConsult was introduced as an additional way to contact the surgery. Unfortunately this has lead to an unfair system meaning that those who are calling to the surgery or coming to the reception at 8am often find that by the time they speak to us, all the appointments for the day are already booked.

It is not possible to ‘squeeze patients in’ once clinics are full. GPs still have to read clinic letters, check results, organise follow up and issue repeat prescriptions after seeing patients, and we have to maintain safe working.
Some patients are seen by other health care professionals but still have to come back to us for further tests or to see their own GP as their issues are more complicated. This adds to the workload moving around the practice.

What are the pressures on General Practice?

Although we have increased the number of appointments we offer, demand for appointments is always increasing. This is in part due to the long waiting times for hospital appointments – some as long as a year for a routine appointment. This means that we are managing more problems for our patients who in the past would have been seen by a hospital consultant.

The increased workload at the hospital also leads to other health care professionals who have seen our patients, asking us to complete investigations, prescriptions and follow up, that they would have previously completed themselves. As the pressures on the NHS increase, we need to try to work smarter to be able to continue to improve the care we give to our patients.

Why GP triage?

By changing to a triage system, we aim to improve the service for our patients. This means that all appointment requests will be looked at by a GP. With the information you provide, we can give urgent problems an urgent appointment, leaving routine problems to wait a little longer. We can also ensure that you see the right person at the right time, and may organise tests before seeing your own GP so that they have the information needed to deal with your problem at one appointment.

We hope this will make our system more efficient moving forwards, and will allow us to give better care to our patients.

What will change on the 31st March?

From Monday 31st March, we will triage all GP appointment requests.

If your GP asks to see you again at a set time after your appointment, this will be booked by the GP or reception.

If you need to arrange a follow up appointment at a later date after tests or longer than 4 weeks, we will ask you to complete an online form to let us know your availability for booking.

For new appointments we will ask you to complete an online form so that we have enough information to be able to give you the correct appointment with the correct person at the correct time. This might mean waiting a few days to see your own Doctor who knows you, rather than having an appointment the same day with a different clinician.

For those patients already using eConsult, you will not notice much difference except hopefully a quicker response time.

This should mean that there is no need to queue at 8am, and that majority of patients do not need to sit waiting on the telephone for a response.

What about if I cannot use the online form or do not have internet access?

For patients who are unable to fill in the form online there are several options:

The form can be completed on your behalf by a carer, family member or friend.
If you have a smart phone or computer but are not sure how to access the form, we can offer support in reception to give you confidence to do this for yourself.
If you do not have online access or cannot complete the form for yourself, our reception team can complete the same form over the telephone for you.
We will have an iPad in reception that patients can use to complete a form for themselves. Help will be available if needed.
We will have extra support available in reception if patients need help getting access on their mobile device.
Any patient having difficulty managing to put in a request can get support from our reception team.

eConsult vs Anima

Local funding has been approved for a new system called Anima. This is very similar to eConsult, but makes it easier in the surgery to work with the information. For those already using eConsult, the way of providing information to us will remain the same.

Unfortunately there have been central delays in getting Anima set up. As a practice we have decided to go ahead with the GP triage model, using our existing eConsult platform initially, and changing over to Anima at a later date.

When we change over systems, the Anima link will appear on the practice website where you can currently find the eConsult system.

E-consult opening times are between 8am to 1:30pm This is to ensure we are able to manage requests promptly. If you have an urgent problem after 1:30pm that cannot wait until the next day, you can use 111, Urgent Treatment Centres, A&E, or call reception for advice.

What will NOT change?

You will still be able to book nursing team and pharmacist appointments, and make admin requests with reception. This can be on the phone or in person.

Prescriptions can still be requested in writing in reception, but we would encourage you to use the NHS app.

All contacts currently made through eConsult or Amina for admin or appointment requests will still be possible.

How can I ask questions or give feedback?

We will be holding drop in sessions to allow you to ask questions and give feedback.

We are planning to arrange some drop in sessions to help patients get set up on the NHS app that allows them to request medication and check results.

We welcome your feedback as we try to improve systems for you. We will have a comments box in reception, or you may leave feedback via our practice website.

We understand that change can be difficult, and there will be many different views about our new system.

We have visited practices already using triage systems and digital platforms. Whilst we have done lots of planning we know we still have much to learn, and will continue to review the process moving forward.

We thank you for your patience while we work hard to develop a system that should be better for patients and our staff, so that we can continue to deliver the best patient care.

Kind regards,

East Cliff Practice Management Team

Published: Apr 3, 2025

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