Patient Access and Appropriate Use of NHS Services Policy

Our commitment to you

Our aim is simple: Right Care • Right Professional • Right Time

We want patients to receive safe and appropriate care as quickly as possible. Demand for NHS services is high and appointment capacity is limited, so we use Rapid Health, a clinically led triage system, to help direct patients to the most appropriate healthcare professional or service based on their clinical need.

We ask all patients to use our services responsibly so that appointments remain available for those who need them.

Accessing clinical care

Rapid Health is the main way to request a clinical assessment at Aspiro Healthcare.

This includes requests to see a:

• GP
• Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP)
• Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
• First Contact Physiotherapist (FCP)
• Mental Health Practitioner
• Other clinician providing assessment, diagnosis or treatment

Some services can be accessed directly without completing Rapid Health, including Practice Nurse, Clinical Pharmacist, Social Prescribing and Care Coordinator services.

If you cannot use Rapid Health online

We understand that some patients may find online access difficult because of disability, digital exclusion, language, communication needs or other circumstances.

Our Reception/Call Handler Team can support you to complete a Rapid Health request by telephone or in person. Tablets are also available at our practice sites.

Reception cannot bypass the Rapid Health process or directly book a clinical appointment unless instructed by a clinician.

What happens when I use Rapid Health?

Based on the information you provide, Rapid Health may:

• Offer suitable appointments to choose from
• Recommend self-care or Pharmacy First
• Recommend another NHS service
• Advise you to attend A&E
• Send your request to the practice for clinical review

Rapid Health is not simply an appointment booking system. Its purpose is to help ensure you are directed to the appropriate care for your symptoms.

If an appointment is available, you may be offered one the same day, next working day, within 5 working days or within 14 working days, depending on your clinical need and available capacity.

Aspiro Healthcare operates from four sites: Hollybrook Medical Centre, Sinfin Health Centre, Parkfields Surgery and Haven Medical Centre. Please check the location carefully before booking.

What if there is no appointment available?

If Rapid Health identifies that further assessment is required but cannot offer a suitable appointment, you can submit your request to the practice.

Submitted requests are clinically reviewed and prioritised according to clinical need and urgency, rather than the order in which they are received.

We aim to review and respond to submitted requests within one working day.

Following review, you may be:

• Offered an appointment
• Directed to Pharmacy First
• Given appropriate self-care advice
• Directed to NHS 111, an Urgent Treatment Centre or another NHS service
• Advised to attend A&E or call 999 where appropriate

Submitting a request does not automatically mean a practice appointment will be offered.

If Rapid Health advises you to attend A&E

Rapid Health may advise you to attend A&E where your answers indicate that your symptoms could require urgent investigation, monitoring or treatment that cannot safely be provided in General Practice.

If you choose to override this advice and submit your request to us, it will be clinically reviewed. The reviewing clinician will decide the safest and most appropriate next step, which may still be to attend A&E, contact NHS 111 or call 999.

Please do not delay seeking urgent care while waiting for the practice to review a request if you have been advised to seek emergency help.

Please use appointments responsibly

Every appointment that is booked is an appointment that another patient cannot access.

Please only book an appointment where you genuinely need clinical assessment, treatment, monitoring or advice.

Please do not:

• Book an appointment simply because one is available
• Book appointments "just in case"
• Submit multiple Rapid Health requests for the same problem
• Book multiple appointments for the same or similar concern
• Hold several appointments and later cancel the ones you do not want
• Book appointments that you know you are unlikely to attend

Multiple bookings and late cancellations

We are seeing instances where patients complete multiple Rapid Health requests and book more than one appointment, before cancelling appointments at very short notice.

We understand that plans can change and sometimes an appointment genuinely needs to be cancelled. However, repeatedly booking multiple appointments or cancelling at very short notice can prevent that appointment from being offered to another patient who needs care.

Please book only the appointment you intend to attend and cancel as early as possible if you no longer need it.

Where there is a repeated pattern of appointments being missed, booked unnecessarily or cancelled too late for the appointment to be reasonably offered to another patient, this may be reviewed and managed in accordance with the Practice DNA (Did Not Attend) Policy.

Where there is evidence of deliberate or repeated misuse of appointments or the Rapid Health process, this may also be reviewed and, where appropriate, managed in accordance with the Practice Zero Tolerance Policy.

This is not intended to discourage patients from seeking healthcare. It is intended to make sure our limited appointment capacity is used fairly and remains available to all our patients.

Completing Rapid Health accurately

The information you provide helps determine the appropriate care and priority for your request.

Please:

• Answer questions honestly and accurately
• Give enough information about your symptoms
• Respond if further information is requested
• Submit one request per concern, unless advised otherwise

Please do not exaggerate symptoms, provide misleading information or repeatedly submit the same concern in an attempt to obtain an earlier appointment.

Rapid Health submissions form part of your medical record, so the information provided should be accurate and factual.

Pharmacy First and self-care

Not every health concern requires a GP appointment.

Community pharmacists can provide advice and treatment for many common conditions and, where appropriate, may provide quicker access to care.

NHS Pharmacy First can provide assessment and treatment for eligible patients with conditions including:

• Sinusitis
• Sore throat
• Earache
• Infected insect bites
• Impetigo
• Shingles
• Uncomplicated urinary tract infections

Eligibility criteria apply.

Pharmacists can also advise on many common conditions, including coughs, colds, hay fever, minor skin conditions, indigestion, constipation, minor aches and pains and other minor illnesses.

Being directed to a pharmacy is not a refusal of care. It means a pharmacist has been identified as an appropriate healthcare professional for your needs.

Over-the-counter medicines

We do not routinely provide appointments solely to obtain medicines that can normally be purchased without prescription, such as simple pain relief, antihistamines, hay fever treatments and minor skin or cough remedies.

Where there is a specific clinical need, a clinician will determine the appropriate course of action.

Services you can access directly

• Practice Nurse: Including vaccinations, cervical screening, dressings, NHS Health Checks and planned long-term condition reviews.
• Clinical Pharmacist: Including medication reviews, prescription queries and medication concerns.
• Social Prescribing: Support with areas such as housing, finances, benefits, employment, loneliness and health and wellbeing.
• Care Coordinator: Support for patients who need help navigating health and care services or have complex healthcare needs. Reception can help direct you to the appropriate service.
• Clinician-requested follow-up: If a clinician asks to review you again, follow-up arrangements will normally be made as part of your care plan.

You should not usually submit another Rapid Health request simply to arrange a clinician-requested follow-up unless you have been specifically advised to do so.

Additional support and reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making our services accessible.

Please let us know if you need additional support because of a disability, learning disability, autism, severe mental illness, communication need, sensory impairment, language barrier, digital exclusion or other accessibility requirement.

We will make reasonable adjustments wherever possible.

Working together

Our aim is not to make accessing healthcare more difficult. It is to make sure our available appointments are used effectively and that patients receive the right care from the right healthcare professional at the right time.

You can help by:

• Using Rapid Health accurately and honestly
• Booking only appointments you intend to attend
• Avoiding multiple bookings for the same concern
• Cancelling unwanted appointments as early as possible
• Using Pharmacy First and self-care where appropriate
• Following urgent or emergency advice when provided

By using NHS services responsibly, you help keep appointments available for patients who need them most.

Right Care • Right Professional • Right Time

Monitoring and Review

This protocol will be reviewed annually, or sooner if required by the Deputy Operations manager following:

• Legislative changes
• Regulatory updates
• Significant organisational changes
• Findings from audits or investigations
• Learning from Significant Events
• Patient and Employee Feedback