Important changes taking place!

The surgery will be changing to a new system - SystmConnect

From Monday 22nd July 2024 we will be asking all our patients to use an online form to contact the surgery. This applies to anything you would normally contact the surgery about e.g., booking routine or urgent appointments, requesting a prescription, informing of changes to your treatment or medication, follow up of results and all other administrative and clinical enquiries.

Whilst our telephone lines will still be open, if you do call the surgery, we will politely request you complete an online form. If your personal circumstances mean that is impossible for you to do this, or for someone you know to complete the form on your behalf, our patient service's team will assist you with this.

The form is brief and will ask the following questions:

•    What is your query about?
•    What action you would like? 
•    Your preference for who and when you would like to deal with your problem.
•    You will be invited to submit photographs if relevant.

You will be able to submit a form between 8am-5.30pm (Monday to Friday)

All forms will be screened by a GP on the same day.

• Administrative tasks will be dealt with by our patient service's team in the usual way.
• Clinical queries are screened by the Doctor and categorised according to urgency of need.  (Red, Amber, Green). We have appointments available within different time frames, including on the same day. Our Patient Services team will contact you to arrange an appointment.
• We may organise some investigations for you while you are waiting to be seen.
• It may be possible to deal with your problem directly without the need to see a clinician. Alternatively, you may receive advice about self-care or other services you can self-refer to.

You can watch a video on how to submit your form here: SystmConnect. 

Why has Bedlingtonshire Medical Group decided to change to SystmConnect?

Since the pandemic, Primary Care has faced an unprecedented level of patient need in the context of a national recruitment crisis for both clinical and non-clinical staff. Whilst we have worked very hard to maintain our staffing levels, it is more important than ever that the right problem is dealt with by the right person to ensure we can provide our patients with the safest and most efficient service.

We hope by making better use of appointments, we will be able to increase capacity and reduce waiting times.

We also hope that it will be easier for vulnerable patients who really need to get through on the phone.

Experience from other practice's already using SystmConnect has shown that patient satisfaction has generally, greatly improved overall.

What if my problem is urgent?

You should still submit an online form. Please do so as early as possible on the day to ensure your problem can be dealt with by our duty team.

Can I request a prescription using the online form?

Yes, or through the NHS app.   

What if a patient does not speak English?

We understand that it can be difficult for non-English speaking patients to access care and we have no wish to make this more difficult. If possible, please ask a friend or family member to complete the form or consider using an online translation tool such as Google Translate. If these options are not possible our patient services team will assist you with an interpreter if necessary.

What if a patient is housebound or elderly, or not able to use online systems? 

We will work hard to recognise vulnerable patients who cannot be expected to use the online form (we would still encourage family members and carers to use the form on the patient's behalf, as it is a very useful way of communicating with the surgery).

Published: Jun 13, 2024