As the NHS continues to be overwhelmed, the future of England’s healthcare service remains unclear.
With many worrying about the potential privatisation or subsequent ‘collapse’ on the NHS, why is it so difficult to secure an appointment?
Maureen, 90, attempts to navigate ‘Klinik’
With winter on the horizon, we can expect to see an increase in illnesses such as the common cold and flu, with chest infections and increased blood pressure seeing higher figures among older generations.
With public frustrations toward the difficulties of scheduling an appointment now becoming more and more common, the risks of not being able to see a GP can impact an individual’s healthcare, affecting lifestyles and day to day life if left untreated.
‘We all know the struggles of ringing a surgery at 8am not getting through’, said Lucy, whose identity has been changed for privacy. ‘Now I’m getting told I have to do it online, it’s okay for me but my mum is a lot older, she wouldn’t know her way around it properly. It’s like they expect you to rely on it.’
Klinik, an online consultation service, can be used to book and cancel appointments in addition to making enquiries and finding information relevant to the healthcare service you require. The system uses AI to provide an ‘immediate assessment of the urgency of the enquiry to a triaging GP.’
‘Technology is fine but for the elderly, (surgeries) need to be more understanding and have more accessible ways to contact and see doctors.’
Some users of the interface have experienced problems with prescriptions, such as experiencing delays, surgeries not sending prescriptions to the correct pharmacies and in some instances, prescriptions not going through the system properly- resulting in said medicine being missed entirely.
Statistic taken from a poll available at the end of the article
In Falmouth, Cornwall, users aged 19 to 75 that participated in a survey about the NHS, took to the forum to voice their concerns. 65.8% of users surveyed felt using technology to make bookings limited overall accessibility of surgeries to older generations, with a further 60.5% of this figure finding communication with their surgery to be mixed, and not always clear and concise.
When asked about changes that could be made to improve health services for the public, the most common answer was creating more appointment availability and creating more jobs within the healthcare sector. ‘Better access to all the different branches of services. Sometimes feels like you’re jumping through hoops for a basic consultation about an ongoing issue.’
Wes Streeting, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, voiced his concerns in parliament this Monday, stating:
‘Our NHS is under rising pressure; we are diagnosing ill health too late and not doing enough to prevent it in the first place. It is too hard for people to get an appointment, hospitals are overcrowded, NHS workers are overstretched, and costs are escalating.’
With GPs and surgeries experiencing missed appointments, the technology has helped to reduce the number of DNAs (Did Not Attend), with the main reason for DNAs including patients being unaware of appointments/lack of reminders.
Close up of ‘Klinik’, available through individual GP clinics and practices
With the technology, it is estimated that reminders including SMS Texts and phone calls has been shown to reduce DNAs by up to 80%, freeing more time for GPs and surgeries to see patients that require their services.
By utilizing digital software within the healthcare sector, it is estimated that reducing DNAs to 2%, the NHS could potentially save £266 million.
The NHS trust saw a response rate of 82% from patients, with staff being able to manage responses to texts from a dashboard, increasing accessibility on behalf of NHS staff.
Moving forward, healthcare professionals must make a conscience effort to be more mindful of keeping services accessible to all.
If you have been affected by healthcare services using technology, and would like to get in touch, please view our anonymous survey here.