The way primary care services – general practice, community pharmacy, optometry, and dentistry – are delivered has been changing for many years.
NHS Kent and Medway recognises the need to build future-ready services for our growing population of more than 2million people.
The goal? To make sure primary care services are more accessible and provide improved, more sustainable services.
Here's how the NHS in Kent and Medway will transform services in the next five years.
- There will be various ways in which you can access primary care with the aim of reducing call waiting times, making sure patient experience is the same whether booking appointments over the phone, via online forms or face-to-face.
- Innovations like the NHS App will put knowledge in patients’ hands and enable them to keep their health on track.
- Pharmacy services will continue to expand.
- The aim is to increase dental capacity in areas that need it most.
- Coordinated continuity of care will be supported so patients progress smoothly between different parts of the health service.
General practice teams now include a range of care professionals who you may be offered an appointment with.
Please visit your own practice website to check how your surgery is operating.
The information below explains some of the ways general practice teams are working.
Most general practices in Kent and Medway have an online assessment service. If you can use online options please do because this helps reduce the pressure on phone lines for those without internet access.
Online assessment tools will be highlighted on your own practice's website.
You will be asked to fill in an online form with information about your symptoms, conditions or treatment.
Submitted forms are viewed, confidentially, by your GP or another approporiate professional.
Based on the information you provide the practice will decides on the right care for you, whether it’s an email with advice or information, setting up a telephone or video consultation, or a face-to-face appointment.
The NHS App is the digital front door to the NHS. It gives users a simple and secure way to access a range of services including ordering repeat prescriptions, checking test results or finding out where they are on a waiting list.
Nearly one million people in Kent and Medway are using the NHS App.
You can use the NHS app to:
- check your symptoms and get instant advice
- book and cancel appointments
- order repeat prescriptions
- view your GP medical record
- see you Covid-19 vaccination status.
Visit your own practice’s website to find out how they are linked in with the NHS app.
For more information on the app go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp
Download it today on your smartphone or tablet via the Google play or App store.
Beth Forrester from Kent said: "I downloaded the NHS app because I saw it advertised on TV and I thought it sounded like an easy way to see everything related to my health in one place. I find it easy to navigate and it's quick to find out about updated referrals or appointments. I mainly use it to check appointments, view letters and test results as these are often uploaded before the post arrives, which stops me having to call the GP practice. I also use it for repeat prescriptions. I've recommended it to family and friends because it's so easy to use."
Pressure on general practice phone lines is very high. We know it is frustrating, but please treat the practice staff with respect, they are often dealing with hundreds of calls every day.
Staff understand it is frustrating for patients and where they have been able to, practices have put in extra phone lines.
If you can use online assessment services or apps please do. You will find information about these on your practice website. They can be convenient for you and also help to free up phone lines for those without online access.
Reception staff answering the phones do need to ask questions to make sure you can be offered the best type of appointment from the different members of the general practice team. Any information given is confidential.
Please be respectful to the NHS staff working hard for you.
General practice teams are continuing to offer many appointments by phone. For many simple problems this is convenient for patients and efficient for the practice, helping them help more people.
If you have online access, you may be asked to send photos via email, or offered a video consultation.
If the clinician needs to see you in person, you will be offered a face-to-face appointment.
The total triage system – or Modern General Practice Access Model – is the model the NHS wants all GP practices in the UK to adopt.
The idea behind total triage is those with the greatest need can be identified and the practice makes sure patients are dealt with before their problem escalates.
It's a system where every patient who wants an appointment has their need assessed.
How it works...
Every request for an appointment is assessed by the GP triage team.
All requests are channelled through an electronic appointment system, so the practice can make sure all the information the GPs need to triage the request is collected and passed to them.
Patients can complete this form online (on a phone or tablet) or if they are not digitally confident, they can ask the care navigator at the reception desk to do it for them (in person or over the phone).
This form is sent to the GP triage team and they review it.
The team will determine what the best solution is.
It might be they will signpost the request to the new Pharmacy First scheme, which means going to a pharmacy is the best solution for you on the day.
If they decide you need an appointment with a GP, or associated clinical professional, they will assign you a same-day appointment or a routine appointment.
They will also decide whether a face-to-face appointment is needed, or a telephone consultation might be best.
Most practices are asking patients to request repeat prescriptions online, where it is possible for the patient to do so. Refer to your practice’s website for more information for the process at your practice.
If you can use online ordering please do. This will help keep phone lines open for people who cannot use digital options.
You can order repeat prescriptions using the NHS app.
Please do not try to request more than your normal amount of medication.
General practice across Kent and Medway have other specialist clinicians and therapists working in the team. These roles might include:
- practice nurses
- nurse practitioners
- paramedics
- clinical pharmacists
- physiotherapists
- mental health therapists and practitioners
- healthcare assistants
- social prescribing link workers.
These different roles can treat and support people depending on their specific needs. It means you might not always see a GP, but you will be offered appointments with people who are skilled and able to help based on your needs.
Nine out of 10 pharmacies in Kent and Medway can offer prescription medicine for seven common conditions, without you needing to see a GP or make an appointment. This is called Pharmacy First.
More than 66,000 people in Kent and Medway used Pharmacy First services in the first six months of launch (February to June 2024) with 33 per cent of referrals coming from general practice.
Conditions they can offer prescription medicine for are:
- impetigo (aged one year and over)
- infected insect bites (aged one year and over)
- earache (aged one to 17 years)
- sore throat (aged five years and over)
- sinusitis (aged 12 years and over)
- urinary tract infections (UTIs) (women aged 16 to 64 years)
- shingles (aged 18 years and over)
If you are not within these age ranges, a pharmacist can still offer advice and support decisions about self-care treatment with over-the-counter medicines.
Pharmacists can offer advice on a range of illnesses, such as coughs, colds, sore throats, ear infections and aches and pains.
They can also give advice about medicines. This includes how to use your medicine, worries about side effects or any other questions you have.