Challenge
GP practices are under immense pressure due to a rising population and an increase in patients with complex co-morbidities driving demand for GP appointments. This situation is exacerbated by long term under-funding, a staff hiring crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Langworthy Medical Practice had over 10,000 patients with GP appointments booked on a first-come-first-served basis by reception staff. There was a rush for booking appointments each morning with the telephone lines jammed and staff under considerable pressure. As patients were not prioritised based on clinical need, it was difficult to identify the most urgent cases and provide those patients with the attention they required; this produced a clinical risk. Some patients had to wait up to 3 weeks for appointments.

Solution
Langworthy Medical Practice started trialling Patchs, our AI-powered online consultation tool, to help them triage and workflow patient requests, and provide remote consultations.
Patchs processed more than 300 patient request per day online. Staff dealt with patient requests in their own time and were able to ask follow-up questions and provide advice via the 2-way messaging system. Where necessary they were also able to schedule video consultations. Non-medical requests were able to be automatically directed to non-clinical staff to action.
“Brilliant way to get the help you need!”
Patient feedback
“Before I knew about Patchs, I was playing Russian roulette with trying to get an appointment at my surgery. Phone lines open at 8pm and I managed to get through at 8:04am, only to be told there was no more appointments. Since using the system I just complete the online form and someone rings me back. I can’t ask for anymore than that in this day and age.”
Patient feedback
“Quick, simple, stress free. When compared with calling reception and waiting at least 20 minutes for someone to answer the phone, this is light years ahead. I literally got a reply within 30 seconds. 5 star service.”
Patient feedback
“Superb user-friendly tool. Easy to navigate and all responses confirmed. Thank you! An excellent service online.”
Patient feedback
“Worked like magic for me. I was struggling to get a GP appointment for a few days before my wife knew about this platform, we figured we would give it a try. I sent a request and within 2-3 hours I got a reply saying that I was booked for an appointment the next day!”
Patient feedback
“Intuitive and effective. Far preferable to hanging on the phone or standing in a queue for 30 minutes. A useful initiative that I hope is providing some relief to the practices too.”
Patient feedback
“I use Patchs all the time now to contact the doctors…it’s easier than sitting on hold for 40 mins in a queue. It’s self-explanatory on what you do, and there is enough space for you to put everything down that you want to. Patchs is a great idea and really works well. I wouldn’t go back to ringing the doctors!”
Patient feedback
“Patchs has enabled us to triage patients more effectively and quickly which is a win-win for both practices and patients”
Kelly Vines, Practice Manager and Partner at Littleborough Health Centre
“Since using Patchs we have received fewer phone calls, and found most patients don’t need to attend surgery for their health queries. Patients are pleasantly surprised to find they can directly contact their GP without having to ring the surgery or come in person. Once patients have used Patchs they always choose to use it again.”
Megan Brown, Receptionist Langworthy Medical Practice
“I think Patchs will enable patients to take more control over their own care because they’ll be able to access more information, be able to get to the right clinician or the right information quicker.”
Dr James Thomas, NHS West Yorkshire ICB Medical Director
“I think it’s important to embrace change. The telephone fastest finger first system just doesn’t work. So, things like artificial intelligence and electronic consultations are the future of communicating with our patients. But we found that Patchs is able to integrate all of these into one system.”
Dr Tauseef Manzoor, GP Partner, Cleckheaton Group Practice
Outcome
Patchs had a dramatic impact on how the practice worked and delivered services to their patients. Instead of booking patients in for face-to-face appointments weeks ahead, they were able to manage patient requests on a daily basis as they were received. This allowed them to book face-to-face appointments with patients who had a clinical need on the same or following day.
85%
85% of consultations could be conducted purely online without the need for telephone, video or face-to-face consultations. This allowed GPs to prioritise patient requests based on clinical need.
3 hours
Patient waiting times were reduced from 3 weeks to 3 hours.
43%
Telephone calls to the practice fell by 43%, reducing pressure on reception staff and making it easier for urgent calls to get through.
4.4/5
Patient satisfaction and staff morale increased. Patients loved Patchs scoring it 4.5/5.0 from 25,000+ reviews.
Find out more
To arrange a demo or trial of Patchs for your CCG or GP practice please contact our partner Advanced Health and Care via their website here.