To improve patient access, review whether a person can explain what they need, use a contact route that works for them and understand the next step. For the practice, it also means the resulting request reaches the right team with clear ownership.
Improving one stage of contact is useful, but it should be assessed within that complete journey. Faster answering does not create clinical capacity or show that a request has been resolved.
Map the routes patients actually use
Review telephone, online and in-person contact together. Choose a common administrative request and follow it from the patient’s first attempt through to the receiving team. Identify duplicated entry, missing details and points where nobody clearly owns the next action.
Include patients who find a digital route difficult. NHS England’s digital inclusion framework is a relevant reference for the wider review. A workable alternative should be considered as part of the service design.
Use a simple request review
| Stage | Question |
|---|
| Contact | Can the patient use a suitable route? |
| Understanding | Does the information reflect the intended request? |
| Handover | Who receives it and who acts next? |
| Completion | How does the patient know what has happened? |
Use fictional details in demonstrations. Include a correction and a request for human help so the review covers ordinary difficulties as well as the easiest example.
Measure the work after contact
Look at completed requests, repeated contacts about the same issue, staff corrections and patient feedback alongside telephone measures. Agree definitions and a reporting period before comparing results.
For a PCN, check whether the same definitions work across member practices. Differences in systems and local workflows can affect what a measure includes and how the result should be interpreted.
Where EMMA by QuantumLoopAI fits
EMMA by QuantumLoopAI supports administrative patient access for NHS GP surgeries during surgery hours. It does not provide clinical advice or make clinical triage decisions. The actions available must be confirmed for the practice’s proposed configuration.
Bring the practice’s current request journey to a demonstration. Ask the team to identify which stages the proposed service supports, which actions are available in that configuration and what staff will still need to do.
This gives the practice a practical basis for deciding whether the service addresses its access problem, with a clear patient journey and responsibilities that colleagues can review.
Explore EMMA for GP surgeries or book an EMMA demonstration to review the workflow and evidence relevant to your practice.
For a related practical guide, read Digital Exclusion in Healthcare: Keeping GP Access Inclusive.
