Two North Devon health centres get new system to beat the 8am call rush

Two North Devon health centres have adopted a new digital consultation system designed to help patients avoid the ‘8am queue’ scramble and long waits on the phone.

SMARTconsult has been developed by GPs and has been implemented at the nine Devon practices run by the GP-founded Fuller & Forbes Healthcare Group.

It is now up and running at Queen’s Medical Centre in Barnstaple and Lynton Health Centre, both run by the company.

The company says the new system is helping patients to access GP services without hassle and delay, while saving the equivalent of 285 appointments every week.

It allows patients to log their symptoms online in just minutes. Fuller & Forbes says many will then receive same-day advice or treatment either in-person with their GP or through expert advice online or via a local pharmacy.

Patients in the region already face challenges accessing a GP, with the most recent GP patient survey showing just 57% of patients in Devon describe trying to contact their GP by phone as ‘easy'.

The creators of SMARTconsult say it is helping practices in Devon to safely manage a large number of straightforward cases by directing them to the most appropriate source of expertise – including GPs, nurse practitioners or local pharmacies.

Above: Fuller & Forbes founders Mark Fuller and Methven Forbes. Credit: Fuller & Forbes

This avoids patients competing for limited GP appointments and ensures those who most need to see a GP face-to-face are able to do so smoothly.

It also links directly to the NHS’s Pharmacy First service. Patients with common conditions such as sore throats can be booked straight into a local pharmacy for assessment and treatment, bypassing the GP surgery or a line at the pharmacy completely.

The company says the 17 practices in England using the tool have already seen a saving of 71 hours of GP time per week – the equivalent of 285 GP appointments every week.

It said if the tool were used across all of the 192 GP surgeries in Devon, this would create the equivalent saving of 54,700 GP appointments in the region per week – transforming how local people access GP and primary care services.

Rowan Griffiths, an advanced clinical practitioner in Devon, said: “By allowing patients to consult electronically and often outside traditional opening hours, we can better serve our community.

“In an ever-pressured NHS, this kind of technology is proving to be game-changing for patients and clinicians alike.”

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Dr Mark Fuller, chief medical officer and co-founder of Fuller & Forbes, added: “People deserve to be able to access appropriate healthcare treatment smoothly and without additional stress.

“Every unnecessary GP appointment that is avoided is time given back to the NHS, freeing up doctors to focus on patients who really need them.

“At a time when general practice is under more pressure than ever, these results show digital consultation tools can make a meaningful difference to patients and GPs.”

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