1. Call Management and Clinical Triage
Getting the right patients into face- to face appointments with the right professional at the right time Healthcare Home Model of care
Call Management and Clinical Triage

2. Improving urgent care in practice
High quality, urgent care in general practice depends on four factors;
Access
Speed of initial response
Capacity
Assessment (by receptions/call handlers, clinicians)
Urgent Care , a practical guide to transforming same day care in general practice. Published by the Primary Care Foundation, UK and supported by the Department of Health

3. Improving access to urgent care
Speed of response
Assessment by call handler
Protocols, Scripts
Telephone
Walk In
Portal
Out reach
Opening Hours
Telephone Measures
Capacity vs demand
Wait Times

4. Why Do GP Triage? Value patients time
Provide other options for access to care
Increase capacity to cope with acute demand
Free up time for proactive and planned care
Improve patient and provider experience
Bums on seats doesn’t mean more money
Requirement of HCH Model of Care

5. Key elements of the HCH model
Urgent and
Unplanned
Care
Proactive
Routine and
Preventative
Business
Efficiency

6. Communications to Patients / Community
We are making some improvements to the way we manage our appointments to make it easier for you to get an appointment when you need one. When you call us, we will offer you a call back from a doctor or nurse in the next hour, as they may be able to help over the phone. If you need an appointment then they will arrange it for you with the right member of the clinical team. It also gives an opportunity to arrange anything else, like bloods or weight and height measurement, to save you time and get everything done in one visit.

7. Principles
All requests for urgent / same day appointments will be triaged by a clinician
During peak hours, the patient’s preferred GP will call them back if possible
If not, then another GP or a nurse will call the patient back within a specific time period (usually within 30 minutes)
The triage caller will determine whether the patient needs an appointment today/ future and with whom.
It may be possible to resolve the issue on the phone, or to schedule 15 minutes for a virtual consultation later in the day/week.
Experience across the Healthcare Home community has shown 30-50% of same day appointment requests do not need to come into practice that day.

8. Preparing for go live Decide a go live date Communicate with all staff
Have a clear guideline / script for call handlers
Change GP and Nurse schedules to allocate time for triage / virtual consultations
Communicate with patients

10. Call Handler Checklist for phone
Hello, how can I help you?
Can I ask your name please
Could you tell me what it is you’re needing an appointment for.
OK, if it’s an appointment for today,
Your doctor or nurse could call you back within the next 30 minutes if you’re happy with that, in order to find out more about your appointment needs. Is that OK?
Yes – ok can I take your mobile number
No – ok, shall I book you an appointment?

11. Develop a workflow for call handlers

13. Midlands Learning 1st call resolution vs productivity
Experience is important
Needs to be within clinician comfort
Is it important to link patients to their GP if possible?
It’s all about communication
No negative events in 5 years
Liked by patients
Training requirements
Measure outcomes – are we changing anything?