Thread by @amirhannan

@daniellebelcher is our final year medical student from @KingsCollegeLon on an attachment with us @htmc0. Today she is leading a training session with our practice staff and management team @griffglen @htmcppg @WHIS2020

She starts by introducing the challenges are for receptionists - can be described as “bouncers” for GP surgeries. But this is not true. We are not nightclubs and have an important role to help patients and staff

She describes #EngageConsult for the staff so that they can see how they can send a message to a patient inviting them to complete an #InstantMedicalHistory. #EngageConsult links directly with #EMISWeb to automatically send a message @rosills

She shows what patients can do and how they need to educate patients on how to use this and why it benefits patients to complete a comprehensive medical history which includes the patients ideas, concerns and expectations #EngageConsult

She shows how easy it is to receive the inbound message which can then be assigned to the clinician as well as using it to have secure 2 way messaging. She suggests email is better than an SMS message as this is more secure - anybody can see a text message who has access to phone

Staff asking questions questions about how we can get all our patients registered to use #EngageConsult. Is this warranted? What about those who can’t do this or won’t? We @htmc0 currently have a blended approach including telephone requests and face to face

So now the big question is how can we meet demand when the staff know there are only so many fixed slots available ? What else can we do?

So she starts a facilitated post-it note session asking the staff what services can patients be referred to besides the GP? Lots of replies back from everybody so it seems they know what else is out there. Yay!

She then asks “how confident do you feel referring patients to these services”? It depends on the ability for the service to meet the needs of the patient. Lots of knowledge amongst staff but not a great experience if patient then asked to come back again

“How can we more effectively signpost?” Generating lots and lots of do issuing and debate about how to do this. More experienced receptionists sharing their experiences and knowledge with those less so. Sometimes services also have a training issue too as rules are changing

We have received complaints because parents asking why their child was referred to optometrists. Please click here tinyurl.com/HTMCEyeCare to learn more about Eye Care. Complaints manager explains to patient, receptionists have advised safely and appropriately

Once patients understand after a complaint, they feel happier and accept the reason. Complaints can be an opportunity to educate and share #KnowledgeSavesLives

We try to educate patients as best as we can but sometimes messages sent are overruled by the clinical team causing confusion for the patients and undermining the staff. That is not helpful when we are all trying to do best equitably for the whole patient population

Long discussion about how we can best manage a patient who thinks they have a Urinary Tract Infection. It’s helpful to know what @TGCCG antimicrobial guidance says for appropriate antibiotic prescribing tamesideandglossopccg.org/antibioticguid…

If symptoms are mild the woman may wish to consider not taking antibiotics and simply increase her fluid intake as UTIs often resolve spontaneously in a few days. If the woman has 2 or less, or mild symptoms, obtain a urine sample and check urinalysis

Discussing what can be done when all appointments have been given out and patients still ringing for advice on what to do. How can we support patients and offer alternatives that may help. Most patients want to know that they can get back in touch with a clinician within 3 days

Very difficult situation and all trying to help. We are all #TeamNHS and how we can work together. Roles are changing and “receptionist” perhaps changing to “patient advisor” and changing expectations so that patients accept advice given for sign posting and using online services

Or rebranded as “care navigators”. Staff said “this building is more like a community now”. We can go half way but we need the patients to come half way too so we can connect with each other and help together! What a lovely thought for the day #PartnershipOfTrust

Training session has ended and lots of happy staff, enthused and lots of ideas generated on what else we can do to support patient care! Well done and Thankyou @daniellebelcher for an excellent training session as we learn and share together

We reminded the staff what the symptoms for #covid19 are especially for those double-vaccinated. It’s different with delta variant too. Click here to learn about Coronavirus tinyurl.com/HTMCCoronaVirus and how you can protect yourself and your loved ones

.@griffglen @rosills @enamhaque31 @KingsCollegeLon @DrAliLea @joannabircherQI @ukmedschools @uomgps @rcgp @DrFJameel @CNagpaul @FBMH_UoM @drcolinm @GarethPresch @WHIS2020 @786maq see what final yr @daniellebelcher learned about leadership when she spent 2 months with us

https://twitter.com/daniellebelcher/status/1472284056608026629