Further planned improvements

Dear Patient,

We want to take this opportunity to thank you for bearing with us whilst we have been making some important changes at the surgery. Changes that we hope will make it easier for you to access the health care that you need. 

An overview of the changes are below: 

Better Phone Capacity 
We’ve adjusted staffing levels and rotas in reception, focusing more resources on answering calls during the first two hours of the day when demand is highest. This has already led to a significant reduction in call waiting times, which we hope you’ve noticed.

We've also introduced a new system for our receptionists to use when you ring for an appointment or with a medical query. They will ask you some medical questions that GPs have written to help us make sure that patients with the most urgent healthcare needs are prioritised for same-day appointments.

We are also planning to introduce a chatbot function, accessible by clicking the bottom-right corner of our website. This feature will allow you to chat with a receptionist in real-time to address a range of healthcare needs. It’s designed to be a faster alternative to calling the practice, while also helping to reduce phone wait times for those who still prefer to call. Look out for updates soon about when this service will be available.

Econsultation Service 
We’ve expanded our clinical team to meet the demand for our Econsultation service. This service is now available Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6:30 pm, and we aim to make it available 24/7 as capacity increases so you can access it anytime. 

Appointment Capacity 
We have increased the number of Face to Face Appointments the practices offers over the last 6 months. This has been done by reducing the number of clinicians who work remotely (not from the practice building). Coupled with redesigning the appointment types in practice and redesigning how clinicians work during the day this should make it easier for you to get an appointment.

Chronic Disease Reviews 
We’ve added more nurse capacity to support reviews for long-term conditions such as heart disease, COPD, and asthma. You will now be recalled for these reviews during your birthday month. If you don’t receive a recall letter or SMS, please contact the surgery so we can address this promptly.

The practice has also added 26 clinics between now and the end of the year to help us diagnose patients who are concerned they might have asthma or COPD so that we can get you on the right treatment as soon as possible.

Practice Based Care 
We’ve returned phone answering and reception services to each of our five Mayflower practices. This means your calls are handled by staff familiar with your specific practice and healthcare needs. Additionally, we’ve assigned consistent doctors and nurses to each practice to make it easier for you to see the same clinician again. 

Booking Appointments 
All patients can book appointments over the phone, in person at the practice or complete an Econsultation to get health care advice.

Your Feedback Matters

Our goal is to improve the healthcare we provide within the NHS budget. To achieve this, we need your input. We will continue to send out patient surveys regularly (both online and available at each practice) to ensure the changes are effective and to gather your ideas for further improvements.
 

Thank you for working with us to make healthcare better for everyone.

Your GP Surgery