Dear Patient,

The whole team at 168 Medical Group regret not currently providing the kind of service we have previously been proud of delivering through askmyGP.

Our online consultation tool, askmyGP, has been closed for new requests too often and has not been open for long enough.

We are ready to make changes to improve the situation and, after extensive discussions and process reviews, it has been agreed to offer the following:

• We are dividing the current “Consult a clinician” into an “Urgent” and a “Routine” option;
  • On askmyGP, you will start to see two options for “Consult a clinician”:
    • Consult a clinician – Urgent; response in 24 hours
    • Consult a clinician – Routine; response in 2 to 5 days

What do you mean by “Urgent”?

When you would like to see a clinician on the same day, please use this option.

A Doctor will assess your request and assign it to the most appropriate clinician, which could be a General Practitioner (GP), Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) or Nurse Practitioner (NP) depending on the request. We will respond to your request within 24 hours.

You may get a response to say that we have changed the request to “routine”, if that is the more clinically appropriate option. We will still resolve your request, it will just change the response time will change to 2 to 5 days.

What do you mean by “Routine”?

When your request is important but you can wait a few days, please use this option.

Your request will be assessed by your GP within 2 to 5 days, where they will decide how best to resolve your request.

This could mean an appointment in the Practice, or a phone call, or a message. We will offer the next available slot for you.

When is this starting?

We are going to make this change on Wednesday 30^th October 2024.

Will it affect the care provided to you?

Yes, but in a positive way as we aim to provide a better service via askmyGP.

By asking for your help in choosing between urgent and routine, we will be able to remain open for urgent requests.

What happens if your symptoms get worse?

If you have a medical emergency, you should always contact 999.

If it is not an emergency, you can call us to discuss, amend or update your request on 01934 624242

Why are you doing this?

Because we are not keeping askmyGP open for long enough and we would like to improve on this.

By asking you to define if this is a same-day request or an important matter that could wait 2 to 5 days for a response, it will help us to answer more askmyGP requests.