Many people may not be aware of how the world of GP appointments are changing. Did you know that you can access an appointment with a GP online via an app where they will call you and see you (and you can see them)? Gone are the days where you had to call your local surgery and wait days to get an appointment. With technology changing, so is our free access to this sort of help. Who would have thought ten years ago we would be freeing up pressure from our GP surgeries with the option to speak to a Dr online? Here are some of the details of this service.
Registration
In order to use this service, you need to register online. This process takes no more than 3 minutes and will ask you some of your personal information. This is not a valid service in all areas of the UK at the moment and was launched initially for London residents but the area of legibility is rapidly growing. When leaving your postcode, you will be informed on whether or not you can continue.
Appointment with the GP
There are dedicated GPs aligned to support this app (clearly not the ones in your doctor surgery) and the service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Appointments are generally made within 2 hours which is superb. How the appointment works is that the dedicated GP will contact you via the app on a video call where you can see him and he can see you. During the video call he will chat with you but also you can demonstrate visibly to him anything important – this could be bruises, burns etc. Once the appointment is over you will be able to replay it from the app. This will help refresh your memory as to the guidance he has given you. In addition to this, all of the GP notes will be placed on the app for you to read and kept in the history for traceability.
Prescriptions
If the doctor wants to prescribe you medication then he can still do this via this service. What will happen is that once he has determined the medication you need he will fill in the normal prescription form and he will send this to the Pharmacy of your choice. You let him know the details of where this is to go and he will pop it over to them. If you are legible for free prescriptions, you will still qualify for them through this method.
Referrals
Despite the efficiency of the NHS trying to do this all via interactive services, there is still going to be occasions that you physically need to see someone. If they want you to see a Doctor in person they will give you the details of the clinics in your area and send your referral notes to them. If it’s a specialist they would like you to see, they will do the referral on your behalf.
