Dr. Adam Cliffe is a GP Partner at Lockside Medical Centre based in Greater Manchester. Like many other practices across the UK, the practice was facing growing pressures. The rising demand for appointments, coupled with a shortage of staff, meant that the team was often stretched thin. Financial challenges compounded these issues, with the practice grappling to meet patient needs without exceeding its budget. The cost of hiring locum staff to fill gaps was becoming unsustainable, pushing the practice towards a breaking point.
In response to this, Dr. Cliffe and his team decided it was time for a change. They embarked on a journey to implement an Accurx total triage model, hoping to streamline operations, ease the burden on staff, and ultimately safeguard the practice’s future.
In 2022, like many GP practices, we were feeling the strain of increasing patient demand and limited resources. Our reception team was overwhelmed with the volume of incoming calls, leading to long waiting times and a bottleneck in patient access. Our access system was inefficient and it was having a big impact on our patients and our staff wellbeing. We were under some financial pressure from overspending on locums and it became clear that we needed to redesign our access system. We knew that introducing a new total triage approach would be a big shift, but it was the only way to make sure we were able to continue delivering the high quality healthcare our patients deserve.
How we approached it
We decided to implement a total triage access model using Accurx. This was a software package we were already familiar with, and provides the patients with a simple, user-friendly interface when requesting a consultation. This platform allowed us to manage all incoming patient requests through one inbox, whether they were submitted by the patient online, or by a receptionist with the patient over the phone or in-person. We knew it was important to involve all of our staff in the design and implementation of the access model for it to be successful.
In primary care we all work in different environments, with different patients and different demands on our service. There is no single access model that will work perfectly in all practices - we have to adjust and adapt models to fit our own individual needs. Prior to changing our access model we looked at other practices around us to explore their systems and understand what may work well for us. This collaboration and sharing of best practices helped us to tailor our implementation based on the insights we gained from those who had gone through similar changes.
The next step was communicating the change to our patients. We used posters, website updates, social media posts, videos and reception staff explanations to reassure our patients that we are here for them when they need us, we are accessible and we will ensure that when they request a consultation they will see the right clinician, in the right place, in the right time frame. We asked the patients, when possible, to please submit consultation requests via our website or their NHS app, and to give us as much information as possible to help us triage them effectively. We reassured patients who were unable to use the technology that they can still contact us in the same ways as before, by phoning the practice or walking into reception to talk to us face to face.
New to total triage? Get your comprehensive guide to implementing this workflow here.
Impact on staff and patient morale
The change was significant, but the impact on our staff and patient morale could be seen quite soon after implementation. Our receptionists no longer felt overwhelmed by the volume of calls, as more patients were now able to get in touch online, and the patient demand was more evenly distributed throughout the day, avoiding the ‘08:00am rush’. The improved patient flow allowed the clinical team to prioritise cases more effectively, giving us a clearer picture of which patients with urgent issues needed attention first.
Patients appreciated the quicker response times, and although it was a shift for them to go online, many found it more convenient. By promoting online access as the recommended contact route, coupled with shorter phone queues for those that needed to get in touch this way, patients got quicker access to the right care, which improved satisfaction across the board.
This way of working saved us from breaking point
The change of our access model brought with it some unexpected but very significant financial benefits. One of the most significant savings came from no longer needing to hire locum staff to cover gaps in capacity. By using a total triage model to distinguish between those patients with urgent problems, and those with less urgent routine problems we were able to plan our workforce staffing more efficiently. This, along with other workforce changes and benefits such as scope to take on additional trainees, enabled us to save more than £250k annually.
We can’t see ourselves going back
Total triage has been a game-changer for us. It’s given our staff the breathing space they need to do their jobs well, improved patient access, and created a more efficient way of working. Accurx played a vital role in this transformation, giving us the tools we needed to make these changes stick. We’re now able to deliver better care, more effectively, and with a much happier team.
Interested in total triage? Dr Cliffe is one of our Ambassadors, regularly training other practices on how to move to this way of working. Explore what this could look like for you by booking an Ambassador training call.
Click here for more information on total triage and start your journey.