Telemedicine is a buzzword that’s been around for a while, with NHS England joining the trend in realising the potential of consultations via video. As part of the General Practice Forward View the NHS has committed itself to; £45 million has been invested into online consultation systems for GPs to bolster the ‘digital transformation strategy’.
A survey of 830 GPs carried out by Pulse revealed that the average wait for a GP appointment is 13 days, up from 10 days in 2015. Furthermore, 40% of patients are having to wait longer than 14 days for a routine appointment. NHS England clearly understand the difficulties GPs are facing, and have committed funding to empower patients to take control of their own healthcare, and help clinicians make the best use of their time and give the best possible care.
The benefits of an online consultation system for a GP are numerous: reducing the number of home visits doctors make, the ability to assess patient’s home environment without a visit, they can suggest more frequent appointments without inconveniencing the patient, offer more flexible appointment times, and most importantly maximise their time by squeezing more appointments into a shorter space of time and reducing the number of Did Not Attend rates.
medio.link is a chosen provider of video conferencing and virtual clinics for a number of innovative NHS trusts, and Virtual Clinics by medio.link can provide GP’s with an easy to use, secure and reliable online consultation system. Our platform is based within the N3 network, giving users maximum security whether they’re video calling within the N3, or to internet based users at home. The bespoke, online booking portal allows clinicians to easily book and manage their appointments, and can easily be integrated into GPs day to day appointment scheduling using our open API.
For a general practice to gain the funding, their CCG must have a plan for delivery signed off by NHS England. This leaves the choice of which online consultation service the CCG is going to choose in their hands, allowing them to choose the right platform for them.
Click here to contact us to find out more about the service that NHS Trusts are already utilising to support their digital transformation strategy, and start your free trial today.
To quickly check how much funding has been allocated to your CCG, click here.
