As a parent or guardian of a child between the ages of 6 months to 16 years, you will be able to submit eConsults about symptoms or conditions only if your practice has enabled this feature. If your practice does not allow for this, please speak to them about enabling paediatric eConsults. You can also submit an eConsul on behalf of someone else who is registered that the practice if the practice has decided to have this feature. Your practice will try to make sure your eConsult is dealt with by the GP you have requested – this means you will continue to be cared for by the doctor that knows you best. This will be possible because they will have time to better manage the needs of all their patients. Once you have identified your group of patients, you can now send them an invitation to complete an online review via the appropriate eConsult questionnaire.

Following your eConsult request, we may need to call you for further information. Please note, all calls to and from the practice are recorded for training and monitoring purposes. Please submit your blood pressure readings via eConsult https://bit.ly/2PUbl6n so that we can monitor your condition and advise if you need an appointment. If you submit your request after 3pm, your practice will respond be the end of the next working day. If you don’t have a webcam on your PC, you can use the one on your smartphone by sending an invitation to your phone ( see FAQs below)

eConsult

eConsult is not an emergency service and usually, you will receive a response by the end of the following working day. They then submit the online form to their GP practice, where it can be viewed by their GP or another professional as appropriate. Your eConsult will be reviewed by your GP and if you need to be seen for a face-to-face appointment, you will be advised of this by your GP

The service allows photographs to be attached and we encourage you to do so where helpful, for example for rash / acne / wounds etc. Please do not upload photo's of sensitive areas such as genitals. If these photo's are submitted, they will be deleted and you will be required to submit a new request. Practices manage significant numbers of patients with long term conditions (LTCs e.g. asthma, contraceptive pill review, COPD, medication review etc). These patients are required to be reviewed on a periodic basis to ensure their conditions are being managed, and that they are not deteriorating. The practice may respond in a variety of ways, based on the advised next steps or the urgency of the information you have provided: You should follow the same process as you currently do to identify which patients on your clinical system are due a regular review. You can submit your own eConsult once you are 16 years old. If you are below 16 and wish to discuss an issue that your parents are not aware of, please phone the surgery to speak to reception.

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You will be directed to another health professional or service to help you deal with your consultation – examples of what this might be are the practice pharmacist, physiotherapy, a community pharmacist or a minor injury unit You are due an asthma review. Please complete the asthma questionnaire via eConsult https://bit.ly/33qnK5Y . Having your information upfront will allow us to understand how you are managing your condition and, if you need an appointment, what type of appointment this should be. eConsult can help you to manage your condition or symptoms by providing you with the best self-help information available, access to local services, or a convenient way to get help and advice from your GP practice. Instead of having to wait weeks for an appointment or queue on the phone for hours, eConsult allows you to tell your practice what you need help or treatment for, so that they can advise you on the best next steps, all at your convenience.

After a patient submits an online consultation, their GP practice can review the request and decide on the most appropriate care. This might be: You will need your ‘Practice Message id’ and your ‘eConsult id’– These are case sensitive (see image below) Go to the Windows Start bar or the ‘ magnifying glass‘ at the bottom left of your screen and search ‘ eConsult Toolbar‘ Your GP may not be the most appropriate person to see – eConsult helps us to know what you might need help for so that you can see the right member of staff for the help you need the first time around. This means that we can better manage available resources in a time of difficulties within the NHS.eConsult is one of a range of services your GP practice offers to make accessing the right help from general practice easy. eConsults can be either administrative or medical (clinical) in need. You will have the option to get general advice, help for a specific condition or administrative request.

eConsultis the most widely used digital and online triage tool in NHS primary care, built by NHS GPs for NHS patients, designed to enhance patient access, improve practice efficiencies and signpost patients to the right place at the right time for their care. Live in over 3,200 NHS practices, eConsult gives millions of patients access to their own GP online." - eConsult EConsult at Roseneath Medical Practice A practice in Cornwall sent 100 texts to their asthmatic patients during ‘QOF season’. In less than one week they received 96 completed asthma eConsult review questionnaires. This cohort of patients had previously been sent letters by the practice inviting them for their annual review but they had ignored them. Texting the direct link makes it much easier for patients to complete. eConsult allows you to seek advice from your GP or to help yourself to manage your condition or symptoms at all hours of the day, from wherever you are. This may be the same GP at the same practice that you have been to for years, meaning they are familiar with your medical history and can continue to treat you. So gp’s there’s no covid, patients need doctors to consult with not computers. So get your stethoscope’s out, open your doors and let the patients in. It’s pathetic!!!! If the doctor or nurse decides they really need to see you in person, they will suggest you come in for a face-to-face appointment. In our experience, around 4 in 5 patients can be helped without them going into the practice for an in-person consultation. Limiting face-to-face appointments to those who really need them is very important, especially during COVID-19, as people might not show any signs of being ill. Your doctors or nurse can dedicate more time to helping youYou will be offered an appointment that day – this will either be with a GP or an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and appointments will continue to be spread throughout the day to try and give you some degree of choice of a time that suits you best. More urgent issues will generally be offered earlier appointments. The service will make interacting with your GP more convenient – you may not have to come into the practice to get help, meaning you don’t have to take unnecessary days off from work or can stay at home if you feel poorly. Registering for NHS login includes verification of patients’ identity, carried out by the NHS. This means that any patient using NHS login to complete an eConsult is verified, and you can be reassured that they are who they say they are.