You and Your General Practice Policy

Why is this change happening?

• The change is part of NHS England’s commitment to improving patient access.
• Contractual changes with the Government GP contracts.
• Many patients' requests can be safely managed online, often with a reply within hours.
• This avoids long waits on the phone and ensures appointments go to those most in need.
• The system, known as Total Triage, is already used successfully in many other practices across the UK.

Find out more on the NHS website.

What does this mean for you, as a patient of Grovehurst Surgery?

• Instead of phoning the practice directly, all requests for a GP and urgent appointments must be made using an online triage form.
• The form can be completed on a smartphone, the NHS App, or our practice website. Here, you will provide details about your symptoms or an admin request.
• A senior clinician will review your form and decide the most appropriate next step.

How will we respond?

Once assessed, we will reach out to you to explain how your request will be managed. This may include:

• A face-to-face or telephone appointment with a GP or clinician.
• Signposting you to a more suitable service.
• Providing healthcare advice or digital guidance without the need for you to come into practice.

Support for patients

• If you cannot access the form online, our reception team will still be available by phone to help guide you through completing the online form.
• Please note, there are no changes to booking appointments with our Practice Nurses, vaccinations, chronic disease reviews (diabetes, asthma, COPD).

How to help us help you

To make sure we can triage your request effectively, please provide:

• How long you’ve had your symptoms.
• The severity and impact on your daily life.
• Any treatment you’ve already tried.
• Only include one problem per form.
• Keep your phone, email, and text details up to date so we can contact you with your preferred method of contact in a timely manner.

Appointment types available

• Same day – for urgent requests (we will contact you to confirm your same-day urgent appointment).
• Within 1 week – for non-urgent needs.
• Within 2 weeks – for routine requests.

If our total triage system has reached maximum capacity, it may be necessary to suspend further appointments for that day temporarily. You will receive a message alert letting you know that we have reached our limit for the day and to please resubmit at 08:00 the next day, or you can contact 111 or 999.

Out of hours

• Total Triage is open Monday to Friday during our core hours, which are 8am to 6.30pm. Please note you will not be able to submit an urgent online consultation after 5pm or outside of our core times.
• For advice when we are closed, please get in touch with NHS 111, or call 999 in an emergency.