Ahead of enhancing patient access to GP digital services, agreeing intent is a vital first step.
As a leadership team, agree to adopt a new approach to the way that patients access services and to embark on that journey.
This may seem like an obvious thing to say, but one of the challenges of the Primary Care Network (PCN) environment is that it brings together different practices, each with their own management priorities, patient dynamic and beliefs.
The reality is that multiple practices within a PCN are often not aligned. So, in agreeing intent, make sure that the intent itself is realistic.
Decide on the level of ambition – considering other operational pressures such as staffing, contractual requirements, Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) and winter pressures – how far, how fast, how deep should change be enacted?
For example, centralising elements of the communications offer allows the pooling of resources and faster telephone response times. However, the reality might be that it’s flu season and that there are some urgent fixes required first. This would favour a more phased approach.
Agreeing intent
Does the practice or PCN have a patient pathway plan in place?
Is there a sense that the digital opportunity is being optimised or realised?
Is every stakeholder happy with the patient experience – content that everything reasonable is being done to manage patient demand?
Does it feel like the operational approach is in control?
Are patient complaint levels reasonable or improving?
How is increased focus on digital solutions going to help?
Does everyone understand what the project is aiming to achieve? Is everyone in agreement with the change that needs to be made?
Aim to achieve a consensus around project intent. Whilst projects can proceed without agreed intent, learning indicates this can lead to barriers at later stages which can add delay, stress, increased effort, that prevents the change progressing
Feedback suggests that digital change didn’t feel tangible to some stakeholders
Delivering flexible and tailored improvements
The flexible nature of digital solutions means that they can be tailored to respond to the different start points
In recent years, the volume and variation of technology used for practice operations, and the complexity of many systems, has increased significantly in primary care
Staff are now commonly using multiple systems to support patients, who are accessing care through a range of varying access routes
In most cases, these systems and applications offer improvements to both staff and patients, introducing improvements in areas such as channel choice, accessibility, document management, insight generation and efficiency of delivery
The reality of having more technology and choice is the overwhelming need to have the right ‘tools’ in place
It is important to note than not everyone understands or is motivated by digital change. It is often difficult to understand how to implement and manage change among the complexities of every day working and to understand how digital benefits convert in to staff and patient benefits
Benefits of collaborative working
The benefits of collaborative working include improving the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, increasing capacity to support patients, and making the most of the total healthcare services available
They can lead to providing consistently high levels of care by creating easy to access routes, making the most of technology and creating a culture and structure where staff can thrive and feel valued
The belief is that collective knowledge, shared best practice and collaborative working, will lead to patients receiving the best possible care
