General practice. All in a day's work

Area of Science:

• Primary Health Care
• General Practice Management
• Patient Access Innovations

Background:

• General practices face challenges in providing timely patient access.
• Increasing demand for same-day appointments can strain primary care resources.
• Optimizing team roles is crucial for efficient healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the implementation of a first-contact team for same-day patient access.
• To assess the impact of this model on general practitioner (GP) appointment availability.
• To gauge patient reception of the new access service.

Main Methods:

• A general practice established a dedicated first-contact team comprising two practice nurses and one GP.
• The team conducted daily morning and afternoon sessions, five days a week.
• Data on patient volume and appointment duration for booked slots were collected.

Main Results:

• The first-contact team successfully provided same-day access for all requesting patients.
• An average of 45 patients were seen per session by the team.
• General practitioners experienced increased availability, enabling a minimum of 10 minutes per booked appointment.
• The majority of conditions managed by the team were self-limiting.

Conclusions:

• Implementing a first-contact team is an effective strategy for achieving same-day access in general practice.
• This model enhances patient flow and optimizes the use of GP time for complex or pre-booked consultations.
• Patient feedback indicates a positive reception to the improved access to primary care services.