Transition to Online Appointment Booking - 15th December 2023
What is Happening?
By December 15th, 2023, we are encouraging all patients over the age of 16 to use the Ask First app to book appointments.
• This will not only make booking appointments faster, it will relieve pressure on our team, allowing us to ensure a more effective and personlised service for you.
• We encourage all patients who are comfortable using the online system to utilise it for scheduling appointments, and for all other non-urgent enquiries.
• For any issues, we have set up a dedicated support email askfirst.premiermedicalcentre@nhs.net to assist you with any technical issues you may encounter.
• We understand that some patients may need additional assistance with the online booking process and our staff is ready to provide support and training to ensure a smooth transition.
Why is it happening?
• As you may have noticed, our GP surgery has been experiencing a significant increase in the number of calls (almost 8000 per month!) and patient visits to book appointments.
• Despite our best efforts to expand our staff and answer calls promptly, we've still faced queues of 10+ calls waiting over 30 minutes to speak with a team member.
• To address this and make contacting our surgery more convenient for you, we're excited to announce the transition to online app based appointment booking via Ask First.
What does this mean for me?
• Instead of calling/walking in to reception, we will be asking you to use the app to book appointments. This will allow you instant access, without having to queue.
• We appreciate that some patients may face barriers in utilising the app, whether these are language, age, technology related, or anything else, we will make every effort to help you find the quickest and easiest method of booking for you.
• We believe this change will significantly improve your experience at our GP surgery but cutting down waiting times and not having to explain your problems to the reception team.
A simple online and mobile solution that provides improved access to your GP. AskFirst is aligned with the GP Forward View online consultation requirements and provided in partnership with the NHS. Note the mobile app’s name changed from Ask NHS.
The app enables patients to interact with a virtual health care assistant called Olivia, she asks a series of questions to assess your symptoms. Using NICE accredited evidence-based protocol, based on your responses, Olivia will recommend the most appropriate onward care which includes self-care advice, appropriate GP appointment, GP call back, advice from NHS.uk and direction to urgent or emergency care.
WHY CHOOSE ASK FIRST?
We want to prioritise our telephone systems for patients in need of acute appointments. Hence, we offer options to book online via AskFirst. This is the simplest and quickest way to get through to us instead of waiting in the telephone queue (Our current average wait time is 13m 54s). It will take you less than 1 minute to book a routine or nurse appointment via the app.
You can book the below services directly in our clinical system through the app:
Acute appointments in advance (our appointments start at 9 pm, hence, you can use the symptom checker to book as earlier as 5 am in the morning on the day.
Pre-bookable appointments - Choose your preferred clinician, location and time to book a routine appointment.
Nurse appointment - We now allow patients to directly book blood tests, vaccinations, smear tests via the app including flu jabs.
Admin request - Patients can send us an admin request of sick notes or general queries to the team.
In addition to the above, patients can self refer to physio and counselling/talking therapies.
How does it work?
For patients that need to see a GP, it is able to prioritise into more urgent appointment slots based on their needs and offer less urgent needs a later appointment. Patients are able to directly book an appointment without having to call the practice. In addition, a transcript of your questions and answers is sent to you, helping to make the consultation more efficient and effective.
The AskFirst app is free to download and features an interactive symptom checker which triages the patient to the most appropriate onward care service (self-care, NHS111, GP appointment or A&E) within an appropriate timescale, effectively helping patients to choose the right service.
How to book a routine appointment with a doctor/Nurse (telephone and face-to-face)
How to send admin requests and Request medication
Health Inequalities Clinics
We are offering extra appointments outside our core hours & in our core hours due to the demand.