New Appointment System being implemented

From Monday 29th April 2024, our appointment system is changing. We will be implementing these changes to enhance patient capacity and access, allowing patients to schedule appointments tailored to their individual needs and urgency levels.

How will the new system operate?

We understand that different patients want different things from our appointment system. Some people like to fit appointments in with their work or other commitments whilst others prefer to ring for a same day appointment. Many people have more routine matters to discuss whilst other people have potentially life-threatening health issues needing prompt attention.

We try our best to meet these varying needs within the limitations of the number of clinicians and appointments available. Like most GP surgeries, the demand for appointments here at Long Lane Surgery is very high. Every month our clinicians provide well over 4500 consultations for patients and demand continues to rise.  Therefore, to be seen by the right person, patients need to share details of their request with the teams on the telephone and front desk so they can work to get you the right care. This isn’t always going to be with a GP. We have so many highly skilled people in the practice and wider team that better suits all our patient’s needs. GP’s can then concentrate on the most unwell within our communities.

Our trained Care Navigators will assess the needs of each individual patient and either book an appointment at the Practice, or signpost appropriately. If you are given an appointment at the Practice there are a range of different clinicians that may be more suitable to your needs, these include:

• General Practitioner (GP): Medical doctors who diagnose and treat a wide range of health issues, provide preventive care, and manage chronic conditions.
• Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP): Registered nurses with advanced training and expertise in diagnosing and managing common acute and chronic illnesses, prescribing medications, and providing patient education and counselling.
• Paramedic: Highly trained healthcare professionals with advanced medical expertise who aid in the assessment, diagnosis, and management of acute health issues.
• Clinical Pharmacist: Pharmacists with specialised training in clinical pharmacy practice, involved in medication management, providing medication reviews, and offering advice on the safe and effective use of medications.
• Physiotherapist: Healthcare professionals who assess, diagnose, and treat musculoskeletal conditions, injuries, and disabilities through physical techniques such as exercise, manual therapy, and education.

We have revised our existing appointment system, and we will now be offering four types of appointment options:

• Routine pre-bookable

Bookable up to 4 weeks ahead, these provide choice and flexibility as to when and by whom you are seen. If these appointments are filled on a particular day, our Care Navigators will look for an acceptable alternative. Other appointments are released at 2, 7, 14 and 21 days ahead to make it easier for you to see a clinician with a problem that is not urgent.

• On the day

Every day at 8.00am a limited number of appointments become available, enabling you to see an appropriate clinician for any urgent medical problems.  At such short notice there is much less flexibility over the time of the appointment and choice of clinician. These appointments will be reserved for patients whose issues cannot wait.

• Urgent medical problems

Every day we have a triage clinician who will aim to deal with clinically urgent medical problems. These appointments are for specific conditions and our Care Navigators will book into these as appropriate.

The triage clinician will call you back to either give advice on the phone or arrange to see you as an urgent appointment at a specified time. As such there is no flexibility over appointment time or choice of clinician. 

The triage clinician will be unable to deal with non-urgent or routine follow-up appointments.

• Extended Access (early mornings, late evenings and even weekends)

Extended access appointments are now available for a variety of services including GP consultations, dressings, smear tests and phlebotomy. These appointments are being offered by our PCN (North West Leicestershire PCN) on a daily basis. The available appointments and services change on a weekly basis.

Appointments at two of the PCN hubs (Long Lane Surgery and Castle Medical Group) will be offered to patients by our Care Navigators where available.

Whatever your situation our Care Navigators can only offer you the appointments that are available. Appointments are always in great demand and our clinical team only have a finite number of hours in the day in which to meet the needs of our 14,000 patients. While we do have these appointments in our system, they may not always be available. When the practice has reached its safe maximum capacity, patients will be directed to alternative services such as Loughborough Urgent Care Centre, depending on the patient need.