The eConsultant: Guiding Clients to Net Success

Product Information

eConsult should not be used for emergencies. Should you report symptoms that our clinical governance team have deemed to require more urgent help than your GP practice may be able to provide, your eConsult will be stopped. You will be advised that your eConsult will not be sent to your practice and that you should seek advice from the relevant urgent care service (e.g. A&E, Urgent Care Centre or NHS 111 helpline). You will be directed to another health professional or service to help you deal with your consultation – examples of what this might be are the practice pharmacist, physiotherapy, a community pharmacist or a minor injury unit You may receive a phone call for you to speak to a health professional at the practice, this is because you may not need a face-to-face appointment to resolve your query. This will save you from having to come into the practice. This is called triage, and triaging patients is very important when you have lots of patients asking for your help, as is the case across all of the NHS. Triage also happens in other healthcare settings, such as in A&E where you are seen based on the urgency of your illness or injury. The same needs to happen at your doctor’s – they need to understand who needs help urgently, and who can wait a little longer. An online consultation does the same thing, however, it collects more information from you than you would normally be able to provide to a receptionist. The main difference is that you are filling in this information online, instead of talking to someone over the telephone. We know some people find this less scary or embarrassing than talking to someone on the phone or in person.

You may be directed to another health professional outside of the practice, as they may be best placed to offer you the advice or support you need. These may include local pharmacy support, a minor injuries unit or other services such as physiotherapy. eConsult will be offline during bank holiday weekends. Occasionally you may also find that you cannot access eConsult, this usually means that all slots for the day have been taken. If this is the case, please try again on the following working day where more slots will be available. eConsult is not an emergency service and usually, you will receive a response by the end of the following working day. eConsult is one of a range of services your GP practice offers to make accessing the right help from general practice easy. eConsults can be either administrative or medical (clinical) in need. Your GP may not be the most appropriate person to see – eConsult helps us to know what you might need help for so that you can see the right member of staff for the help you need the first time around. This means that we can better manage available resources in a time of difficulties within the NHS.Once you have identified your group of patients, you can now send them an invitation to complete an online review via the appropriate eConsult questionnaire. Elderly patients who have access to the internet can use the service, otherwise they can call the practice as usual on the dedicated telephone number. Telephone: 0345 337 1160 If you submit your request after 3pm, your practice will respond be the end of the next working day. The great thing about online consultations is that they provide your GP surgery with very detailed information about what symptoms you have and the effect they are having on you. They can then decide, based on the doctors and nurses available to support you, your symptoms, and the needs of other patients, how best to help all of you. You will need your ‘Practice Message id’ and your ‘eConsult id’– These are case sensitive (see image below)

You will be offered an appointment at a future date – this is most likely if there is a particular GP that you normally see who is not available that day to deal with your consultation.If your practice already uses an online consultation system that is integrated with the NHS App, you do not need to take any action to make it available in the app. They will have had time to look at your medical record and look into possible reasons for your symptoms and do some research if needed. They might also decide they don’t have all the information they need, so they may ask you to go for some tests before they have a good idea about what your symptoms mean. All of this is happening without you being in the same room – which means the GP or nurse is protecting your time, whilst providing you with the same care they would normally. In fact, some might argue that they are able to provide better care because they have more time and more information. This means you might get more of your GP’s time than you would in a normal 10-minute, face-to-face consultation. When you do speak to your GP, remotely or in person, this consultation should be more focussed on the next steps, such as treatment plans, as they already know why you need their help.

If you don’t have a webcam on your PC, you can use the one on your smartphone by sending an invitation to your own phone Please submit your blood pressure readings via eConsult https://bit.ly/2PUbl6n so that we can monitor your condition and advise if you need an appointment. You may be offered an appointment, either on the day or for a later date. This may not be with your GP, but may be with an Advanced Nurse Practitioner or other health professional at the practice, depending on your query. EConsult is available for patients registered with our practice. The service is operational between the hours of 8 am and 5:30 pm, Monday - Friday. If selecting ‘treatment and advice from my GP’ you will be directed to complete an online form about your symptoms. You will need to confirm that you do not have any symptoms that require immediate or urgent care. Please answer questions as accurately as you canso we can find the best way to help you.

eConsult

The service allows photographs to be attached and we encourage you to do so where helpful, for example for rash / acne / wounds etc. Please do not upload photo's of sensitive areas such as genitals. If these photo's are submitted, they will be deleted and you will be required to submit a new request. So gp’s there’s no covid, patients need doctors to consult with not computers. So get your stethoscope’s out, open your doors and let the patients in. It’s pathetic!!!!

The service will make interacting with your GP more convenient – you may not have to come into the practice to get help, meaning you don’t have to take unnecessary days off from work or can stay at home if you feel poorly. Once a condition is chosen, you can access self-help information, access local services and pharmacy advice, or get advice from your GP at the surgery. eConsult allows you to seek advice from your GP or to help yourself to manage your condition or symptoms at all hours of the day, from wherever you are. This may be the same GP at the same practice that you have been to for years, meaning they are familiar with your medical history and can continue to treat you. Your eConsult will be reviewed by your GP and if you need to be seen for a face-to-face appointment, you will be advised of this by your GP Practices manage significant numbers of patients with long term conditions (LTCs e.g. asthma, contraceptive pill review, COPD, medication review etc). These patients are required to be reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure their conditions are being managed, and that they are not deteriorating.

You will have the option to get general advice, help for a specific condition or administrative request. Following your eConsult request, we may need to call you for further information. Please note, all calls to and from the practice are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. If you don’t have a webcam on your PC, you can use the one on your smartphone by sending an invitation to your phone ( see FAQs below)