The eConsult platform offers patients choice - self-care, pharmacy, local services (where a patient can refer themselves without contacting the practice in the first instance) and the ability to contact their GP for treatment and advice.
Whilst we know patients do use all of these options many will simply bypass self-care and submit an eConsult report to their GP.
These may include eConsult reports for self-limiting illnesses such as hayfever, coughs, colds and cold sores, for example.
We know if a patient presented either to reception or on the telephone for "hayfever" the practice team would in most cases signpost the patient to the nearest community pharmacy.
Training your practice administration team to navigate or signpost patients, following a standard operating procedure matching your current process to all of the eConsult templates will reduce the pressure on Clinicians.
Right Care, Right Time, Right Place
The practice administration team need to know what alternative services there are which could include:
Community Pharmacy
Social Prescribing or alternative services such as Anxiety and Depression
Physio first.
To help, you can find out more about and download our free care navigation tool here.
There are also navigation toolkits available online, all of which can underpin the care navigation and signposting role in practice. This results in a consistent approach with standardised communication to patients.
eConsult can support training in this area.
Want to know about navigation and signposting? Email practice.support@econsult.health.
If you have any questions or you feel that this article could be improved, please feel free to give us some feedback by emailing us, pressing the emojis below or using the chat button on the bottom right-hand side of this page to speak to one of the eConsult team.