At School Lane Surgery, we understand that accessing healthcare can sometimes feel confusing, especially when you hear different things from friends, family, social media, or that guy down the pub who also says he always knows when the fruit machine will pay out.
So, we thought we’d put together this guide to explain how our appointment system works, why we use it, and how we’re committed to making access to healthcare as easy as possible.
After all, despite what some people might think, we don’t have a cupboard full of GPs or a drawer full of appointments hidden away!
Our job is simply to make sure the appointments we do have are used in the safest, fairest, and most appropriate way possible.
- Why does School Lane Surgery use Total Triage?
Like many GP surgeries across England, we use a Total Triage model. This follows the principles of the NHS Modern General Practice programme, which encourages practices to clinically assess every patient request before an appointment is booked.
This allows us to:
- Ensure patients with the most urgent medical needs are prioritised.
- Make sure patients are seen by the most appropriate clinician.
- Reduce unnecessary delays.
- Use our limited GP appointments where they are needed most.
- Improve patient safety by ensuring every request receives a clinical review.
Every day, our dedicated on-call GP team reviews hundreds of appointment requests.
The most important thing to remember is this: every appointment request is reviewed by a GP.
2. Can I still see a GP?
Yes. Absolutely.
One of the biggest myths about modern general practice is that patients can’t see a GP.
The answer is simple. Yes, you can.
If, after reviewing your request, the GP feels you need to see a doctor, you’ll be offered a GP appointment.
- Sometimes this will be the same day.
- Sometimes it will be booked for a future date because your condition is clinically safe to wait or because you’ve asked for a future appointment.
- Sometimes another clinician, such as a Practice Nurse, Clinical Pharmacist, First Contact Physiotherapist or Mental Health Practitioner, may be better placed to help.
Our aim is always the same: The right patient, with the right clinician, at the right time.
3. Can I ask to see a specific GP?
Yes.
When you contact us, simply let us know.
If you telephone us, tell our reception team.
If you complete an online form, you’ll see the question: “Do you have a preferred clinician?” Simply select Yes and tell us who you’d like to see.
Where possible, we’ll always try to accommodate your request. Not only is this often more convenient for you, continuity of care is also helpful for the GP.
There are occasions where this isn’t possible, for example if:
- Your condition requires more urgent assessment.
- Your preferred GP is away.
- Another clinician is more appropriate for your problem.
Continuity of care remains very important to us, particularly for patients with long-term or complex medical conditions.
4. Are Reception staff deciding whether I can have an appointment?
No.
This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions about how general practice works.
At School Lane Surgery, our fantastic Reception team do not make clinical decisions and they do not decide who gets an appointment.
Their role is to:
- Collect the information you provide.
- Make sure they have enough information for the GP.
- Follow the instructions and decisions made by the clinical team.
Every appointment request is then reviewed by one of our GPs working within our dedicated on-call hub.
It is always a GP who decides what happens next.
5. Are online forms treated differently to telephone calls?
No.
Another common misconception is that patients who telephone are treated differently to patients who complete an online form.
They aren’t.
Whether you:
- Complete an online form.
- Telephone the surgery.
- Speak to one of our reception team.
Your request is entered onto exactly the same clinical system.
Every request joins the same triage process and is reviewed in exactly the same way.
The only difference is how you choose to contact us, so simply choose whichever method is easiest for you.
6. Aren’t your online forms closed by 8:34 every morning?
No. Not anymore!
Our online forms remain open throughout our normal opening hours and can be submitted at any time while we’re open.
Every request submitted during opening hours is still reviewed by a GP.
Many patients also find the online forms quicker because they avoid waiting on the telephone and can be completed whenever it’s convenient.
Some forms, such as ‘Cancelling an Appointment’ are open 24hrs a day, but others are closed for clinical safety reasons outside of surgery opening hours.
7. Don’t I always have to wait ages to get through on the phone?
Sometimes, yes. But… it is not as bad as you may think.
Like any busy service, there are times when demand is much higher than others.
Monday mornings are usually our busiest period as patients contact us following the weekend.
Reducing telephone waiting times has been one of our priorities.
The good news is that more patients are now using our online forms, meaning our average telephone waiting time has reduced significantly and is now around 6 minutes. If your enquiry isn’t urgent and you’d prefer to call us, you’ll often find that afternoons are generally much quieter, meaning you’ll usually spend less time waiting.
Where the phone is busy, we have a call back system that means you do not need to wait on the phone. This is only active if a certain number of calls are in a queue at any one time. So you may not always be offered the choice.
We also publish our average monthly telephone waiting time in our School Lane Surgery Monthly Snapshot, allowing patients to see how we’re performing and helping us monitor our own performance.
8. You always ask me so many questions. Why?
We do…..But there’s a very good reason.
The more information you provide, the better the GP can understand what’s happening and make the safest clinical decision.
Your information helps us decide:
- How urgent your problem is.
- Which clinician is best placed to help.
- Whether you need to be seen in person.
- Whether advice, treatment or investigations can be arranged without an appointment.
The better we understand your problem, the better decision we can make.
9. Why can’t Reception just book me a GP appointment?
The simple answer is because nobody knows which appointment is the right one until a GP has reviewed your request.
- Some patients need to be seen the same day.
- Some are better seen by another member of our clinical team.
- Some need investigations before an appointment.
- Others can be safely booked into a routine GP clinic.
Having a GP review every request means we can make the safest and most appropriate decision for every patient.
Think of it this way, if they did, then they would be possibly making a clinical decision (See question number 4).
It is also worth highlighting that the majority of appointments at School Lane Surgery are delivered face to face. Excluding GPs working on call, a standard GP clinic consists of approximately 80% face-to-face appointments and 20% telephone consultations.
10. Why can’t every appointment be booked in advance?
General practice has changed over recent years.
Every day we receive hundreds of requests, many of which genuinely need same-day assessment.
If every appointment was booked weeks in advance, patients who suddenly became unwell would struggle to access care. Total Triage allows us to balance urgent and routine care while still offering planned appointments where it’s clinically appropriate.
The important point is this: We do have pre-bookable appointments!
It’s simply that every request is reviewed by a GP first, who decides whether you need to be seen urgently or whether it’s clinically appropriate to book a routine appointment.
If, after reviewing your request, the GP decides your condition is clinically safe to wait, you will be contacted to book an appointment. Or you may receive a secure text message inviting you to book your own appointment.
Rather than us choosing a date and time for you, you’ll be able to select an appointment, with a GP of your choice that best fits around your work, family, or other commitments.
We hope this will provide:
- Greater flexibility.
- More choice.
- Fewer unnecessary telephone calls.
- The convenience of booking at a time that suits you.
If you don’t have a mobile phone or cannot use SMS, we’ll continue to arrange your appointment using our usual booking process.
11. Does this mean I’ll be waiting longer?
No.
Many conditions simply don’t require an urgent appointment.
Where it’s clinically safe to do so, the GP may recommend a routine appointment over the coming weeks.
This ensures that patients who genuinely need urgent medical care can be seen quickly, while also allowing patients with less urgent problems greater flexibility over when they are seen.
12. What happens if my problem becomes worse?
Let us know.
Your request will be reassessed by a GP based on your current or change of symptoms to make sure you receive the right care.
What we are looking to do is balance out the demand and what we can supply. If we look at the numbers, every month we typically deal with:
- Around 4,700 online requests.
- Answer almost 7,000 telephone calls.
- Provide over 7,000 appointments.
- Process more than 34,000 prescription items.
- Maintain an average telephone waiting time of around 6 minutes.
Behind every number is a member of the team working hard to ensure our patients receive safe and appropriate care.
Our Promise to YOU
Every patient who contacts School Lane Surgery deserves safe, fair, and appropriate care.
Our appointment system ensures that:
- Every request is clinically reviewed.
- Urgent problems are prioritised.
- Patients are directed to the most appropriate clinician.
- Routine care remains available.
- Patients have greater flexibility through our new SMS booking system.
Modern general practice isn’t about making patients jump through hoops or difficult to access care. It’s about making sure every patient is seen by the right clinician, at the right time, in the right way.
That’s exactly what our team strives to achieve every single day.
The bottom line is that our aim is:
Right Patient. Right Clinician. Right Time
We hope this guide has helped explain how our appointment system works and dispelled some of the common myths surrounding GP appointments. If you have any questions, please speak to a member of our team. We’ll always be happy to help.