A national NHS campaign will launch this month aimed at increasing patients’ confidence in the triage process and ‘non-GP’ roles used by practices.
NHS England said the campaign would include ‘PR activity to generate content and consumer media coverage to increase patients’ knowledge and confidence in the primary care triage process and the wider multi-disciplinary team of clinicians that are available in general practice’
This will include educating patients on why receptionists ask patients questions about their condition when they contact their GP.
Dr Kiren Collison, interim medical director for primary care, told the webinar that the campaign will run ‘from September onwards’ and that it will ‘raise awareness around the multidisciplinary team within the practice’, including ARRS roles.
It will include a short video of children interviewing different professionals about their jobs in a general practice setting.
Dr Collison said: ‘It’s not about “see your GP”, it’s about: you could be seen by a number of different people, physios, pharmacists, paramedics.
‘The other thing is around triage and the care navigation side of things, so making people aware that if they do contact their practice they will be asked questions about their condition.
‘And that’s not about a receptionist being nosy, this is very much about triaging effectively so that patient can reach the right person or the right service.
‘The campaign is going to be really focusing on all adults but also with a focus on a younger audience and parents of children, and the reason for that is that we know they have quite a high rate of consultations and don’t always know about those access routes.
‘A short film has been filmed recently and it’s of some children interviewing professionals within a practice setting, to show people who these people are and what they do.’
She also pointed out that the video won’t cover all of the additional roles, but the most common ones will be covered, adding: ‘I think it’s really important to get the message out there that not every practice, not every PCN, will have all of these roles.
‘Some will have some, some will have others, so what this is trying to do is raise awareness that if you are booked for an appointment with a social prescriber or a pharmacist then that is to be expected and not to be alarmed.
‘We need to be clear with our public that, although we are raising awareness of these things, from day one it may not all be there and all in place – this is an evolving process where care navigation is starting up and new roles are coming in.’
NHS England also said the campaign will focus on those from Black, Asian and Eastern European backgrounds.
In July, North West London ICB launched a similar initiative to explain to patients how general practice is changing and why they may see a different clinical expert in future, depending on their need.
Later this year, NHSE will also launch the GP digital access phase of the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign to increase uptake of the digital route for accessing general practice services, as well as the NHS 111 phase, which will run over winter to increase the number of people with a perceived urgent care need to access 111.
During the same webinar, NHS England said that its internal analysis found that 16% of GP appointments are ‘potentially avoidable’.
In an exclusive interview with Pulse earlier this year, national director of primary and community care services Dr Amanda Doyle said there was ‘absolutely no risk to PCNs’.
She also said that PCNs should feel confident to continue recruiting staff under the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) without worries funding could be withdrawn.
Yup because all these other roles are really helping decrease our workload. None of them are sent to see their GP on a regular basis because of lack of knowledge/skills/ability to prescribe on a daily basis. None rebound the patient back to the doctor. not at all. not one bit. So the saviors of general practice are here. If ony we could find people who can actually do the job of diagnosing, investigating appropriatley (not b12/folate and vitamin d for everyone and managing conditions appropriately and actually throwing money at that. No. ok then.
Shocking. Looks like there is no need to go to medical school anymore. We’ve studied hard for nothing?
‘It’s not about “see your GP”, it’s about: you could be seen by a number of different people, physios, pharmacists, paramedics.
The secret bit:
“…because there aren’t any GPs. Because we abused the service so much that they all left.”
The public know they need a GP. This whole thing is a bust. Most just see the ARRS staff and then the GP anyway – or vice versa.
So, why is ‘See your GP!’ appended to every :
TV advert;
Disease-awareness raising poster;
Recommendation for Weight loss and stop smoking advice;
Screening programme letter;
Flu and covid Jab adverts;
Hospital discharge letter;
Out patient clinic avoidance letter;
Social services communication or application form;
travel agents’ bill;
Gym or sports club membership form;
school or extracurricular activities form;
packet of cigarettes;
anything dispensed at the chemist;
anything the chemist won’t or can’t dispense;
half of today’s TV programmes, documentaires, soap operas, and anything to do with school, or nursery, or food, or heating, or water bills, etc
Dumping ground if you haven’t figured that out yet David Church.
NHS England through complete management ineptitude has brought the NHS to its knees.
A true lesson in incompetence the world should learn from.
It now seeks to collapse the service in total by a further kick from the rear.
Mistake after mistake via diluting the workforce with often inappropriate unmonitored poorly vetted PCN highly paid inexperienced staff who make the work of doctors and nurses that much harder by continuous questions regarding basic aspects of care, interrupting other work or taking 4 times as long to see the same problem despite salaries often of 50k (hence 200k in reality) with no real checks and we wonder why the service is rapidly progressing to close to near extinction and bankruptcy.
There will be no risk to PCNs as confirmed by NHSE as too many NHS managers/Clinical Directors are riding this overloaded gravy train.
Our problem is we live in the real world, sweeping up the garbage poor management directed by beyond the pale politicians, who have stripped away quality and replaced it with window dressing.
Specials instead of Police, teaching assistant instead of teacher etc,etc! UK PLC rapidly going down the U-bend!
Not a cheep from those bastions of quality the GMC,CQC on the matter, goes without saying!
How any doctor working for NHSE can seriously think that they are making the situation better beats me!
Just remember though, you don’t fool us! Indeed, suspect you will not fool the public either!
NHSE ignoring Practice Nursing colleagues as usual who unsurprisingly are departing in droves while we race to the bottom.
And NHSE and HMG simply do not get that it is about the quality of the appointment rather than numbers with infinite demand. A neighbouring practice embracing the PCN project with multiple ARRS with near identical patient demographics and list size has offered 195,000 appointments in the last year with my practice at 129,000 and 1,000 less A&E attendances than our neighbour. Why is there still no analysis of the numbers of repeat attendances for clinical presentations vs single completed clinical instances delivered by experienced qualified clinicians? Duplication is inefficient and time consuming and unsustainable
Dear All,
Yep the message is “This polished turd really is as good as a bar of gold bullion”. Perhaps someone should refer them to the Advertising Standards Authorities?
Regards
Paul C
Strike breaking before strikes even begin
Tax payer funded propaganda. Proof that you can not trust the NHS. When ‘health campaigns’ are written by the HR department this just cheapens UK health care and exposes it for what it is. Political , second rate and a lie