New Appointment Triage System starting Monday 8th September 2025

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Demand for appointments has increased hugely in recent years and at Southborough Lane Surgery we are trying to address the issue of access and demand for all our patients. We will therefore be introducing a new online triage system named Accurx total triage in line with NHS England requirements from Monday 8th September 2025.

The new way to request a GP appointment will be by submitting an online request.

If you do not have access to the internet or struggle to complete a request, please telephone the surgery and one of our patient advisors will complete a request on your behalf.

Clinicians will then assess your request, and the team will be back in touch with the next steps.

All requests will be assessed as soon as possible and in the same way, regardless of how you contacted the surgery.

How does the new system benefit patients?

We understand that change can sometimes be difficult, but we are confident that Total Triage will bring many benefits to you, our patients – such as: 

  • Addressing Clinical Need – Patients will be seen based on their clinical need not who contacted the surgery first. Urgent problems can be dealt with more promptly.
  • Appropriate Clinician – Patients get to see the most appropriate clinician to help them in a timely way, reducing wait times.
  • There is no queue – No need to call at 8am or call back the next day.
  • Convenience – Using digital communication means that you can engage with us from the comfort of your home or workplace.
  • Help others – Digital access will mean phone lines are far less busy so those without a smartphone or computer are able to contact the surgery easier by phone.

So how does the Total Triage process work?

The new way to obtain an appointment will be to complete an online request, with as much information as possible so that it can be triaged appropriately.  Only one medical issue per triage form to be submitted. The request will be reviewed, and you will hear back from the surgery within 2 working days after you submitted your request but much quicker in urgent cases if clinically needed.

When the surgery contacts you it will either be by text, email or by a phone call.

When needed, we may ask a few questions to help us prioritise those patients who need more urgent care.

How do I contact my GP?

The quickest way to contact your surgery with medical or administrative queries is by submitting an online request here on our website (Contact us about your request – Accurx Patient Portal) or through the NHS App.

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We are here to help

Our Care Navigators will be here to guide and support patients and their families/carers every step of the way until they become comfortable with the process over time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Traditional ways to contact your GP surgery often meant that appointments were being allocated on a first come, first served basis, with long phone queues to get in touch with your surgery. This meant that vulnerable patients, or those who needed care sooner were missing out.

You can avoid the queues by submitting a request online, making it easier to reach out to your surgery.

By registering all requests through an online form, your surgery is able to prioritise and action requests quickly and fairly, ensuring that you get the right level of care at the right place and the right time.

  • Administrative tasks will be dealt with by our Admin Teams (Care Navigators) in the usual way.
  • Clinical queries are screened by GPs/clinicians and categorised according to urgency of need.  We have appointments available within different time frames, including on the same day.  We will contact you to arrange an appointment.
  • We may organise some investigations for you while you are waiting to be seen.

It may be possible to deal with your problem directly without the need to see a clinician.  Alternatively, you may receive advice about self-care or other services you can refer yourself to. 

Experience of using this system in other Practices has shown us that patients receive a much more efficient service and feedback from patients has been excellent.

They have also been able to significantly reduce waiting times to see a clinician by more effective use of appointments.

The modern general practice team is increasingly multidisciplinary, and it is more important than ever that the right problem is seen by the right person. Having a doctor/clinician screening/triaging the forms allows us to do this more accurately, safely and efficiently.

We understand that it can be difficult for non-English speaking patients to access care, and we have no wish to make this harder. If possible, please ask a friend or family member to complete the form, or consider using an online translation tool such as google translate. If these options are not available to you, our Care Navigation team will assist you with an interpreter if necessary.

We will work hard to recognise vulnerable patients who cannot be expected to use the online form (though we would still encourage family members and carers to use the form on the patient’s behalf as it is a very useful way of communicating with the surgery). These patients will still be able to speak to our Care Navigation team who will complete a form on their behalf.

If you have a specific need that we have not recognised please discuss this with the Care Navigators or with the clinician at your next appointment.

Accurx is an NHS-approved software supplier. Your surgery uses Accurx to manage patient requests, request additional information from you and send you messages about your care.

For more information on Accurx visit: https://www.accurx.com/patient

If you have any further questions about Accurx, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Accurx Support Team via live chat or email (support@accurx.com).