Welcome to the Devonshire Practice

A Manic Monday – 16 April 2012

Following an invitation from Sue Crook the Practice Manager, my wife and I offered to come in to see what really goes on ‘behind the scenes’ when the surgery opens for business.  In order to get the best example of what happens it was decided to go for a Monday.  So alarm clocks were set and we headed off to the surgery before 8am on Monday 16 April 2012.

While the staff started the computers and established the necessary ‘links’ with outside authorities we had an introductory brief when we arrived.  We both signed ‘Confidentiality Agreements’ to protect everybody’s information and then took a look at the ‘Starting Point’ and plan for the day.

There were to be all three Doctors on all morning with one of them being replaced by a Locum in the afternoon.  The Practice Sister would be running a clinic all day.  On the Administration side there would be the Practice Manager and two Duty Receptionists.

At start time there are 99 doctor’s appointments available for ‘Book on the Day’ use, together with 4 available for the nurse. Today is the first Monday of a ‘No pre-bookings Trial’ which is designed to make more appointments available for ‘Book on the Day’ use, first thing on a Monday morning.

It is now 0830 so ‘Hold onto your Hats’, ‘Open the Door’ and ‘Switch on the Phones’ and off we go!!  There are already some 15 to 20 people waiting outside as the door opens and the phone lines (there are 2 of them) already have a constant stream of calls via the queuing system.

The 2 receptionists start to deal with the personal callers, allocating appointments and dealing with their requests.  At the same time the Practice Manager is taking the phone requests.  All three of them feed the results into the computerised system as they go and it then automatically records and displays the ever changing availability of remaining appointments as listed by doctor and the nurse.

It took about 10 minutes to clear the queue at the door and one of the receptionists then started to help with the phone calls.  After another 10 minutes the phone fell silent as the phone queue cleared and the normal daily frequency began.  Everybody heaved a sigh of relief and caught a breath.

The speed at which the appointment requests were dealt with during the first 10 minutes was about 5 appointments every minute (that is 1 every 12 seconds!).  This eased off to  3 every minute for the next 10 minutes, then to a more normal 1 per minute.

It must be said that at all times the staff dealt with all of this in a very calm, friendly and pleasant manner while maintaining speed and accuracy.  It was also interesting to note the helpful way that they went about their task.  Never let it be said that the team are sat there drinking tea ignoring phones and polishing their finger nails etcetera.

So what about the ‘No Pre-Booking Trial’?  There was a considerable surprise which was remarked upon by several people who managed to get appointments so late (0850) when there were still 15 appointments available.  Many more actually got an appointment with the doctor they preferred and the greater choice also eased the allocation of requested appointments.  Overall it led to a much calmer start to the week and it is hoped this will continue through the following days.

The last appointment for the day finally was allocated at 0955.  By this time the usual daily chores were well on the way.  Checking and servicing requests for ‘Repeat Prescriptions’ and following up requests for Urgent External Appointments which often means ages waiting on other departments phone queues!  There are also the phone calls for Test Results etc and of course the continuing flow of people attending their appointments.

By 1100 we felt that we had probably got a reasonable idea as to what is involved in a ‘Manic Monday’ experience.  We left the team to continue their excellent work after spending a very enlightening, informative and reassuring morning with them.

Happy to know that our health is in such dedicated hands, thank you for the opportunity to see it all at first hand.