BALANCE STREET PRACTICE
Action Plan 2014
1. Telephone System
The telephone system is undergoing a complete review and quotes for both an ‘upgraded’
system and a completely ‘new’ system are being sourced. Either way the telephone system
will be improved during 2014.
Action Taken: The ‘press 1’ for appointments only was put in place at the end of 2012.
Although this has helped, the 2013 survey above showed that the system still needs further
improvement.
We have has appointments with 5 telephone provider companies to date and we are still
exploring the best option for the practice. We anticipate making a decision by the end of
September, and completing installation by November 2014.
2. One Family, One Doctor
Our one family, one doctor policy is generally well accepted, however, the October 2013
survey brought to light a number of female patients, who, for certain medical conditions,
would like to see a female doctor.
Action Taken: This issue was discussed by the practice partners but it was decide to stay
with the policy of one family/one doctor and not allow patients to see another doctor
depending on the medical condition.
In September 2014 we added special ‘lady doctor’ appointments to our system. This was to
enable patients registered with a male doctor an opportunity to see a female doctor if they
felt that this was important to them.
3. Encourage Online Booking
Several patients comment on the difficulty of getting through on the telephone. Whilst we
appreciate that not all patients have access to a computer; many young and working people
would prefer to book an appointment at a time to suit them. We are going to encourage the
use of online booking and make more appointments available for this service in order to
give patients more choice.
Action Taken:
We have advertised this service in the following ways:
 Through website
 On the waiting room TV presentation
 By receptionist encouraging new patients to register their email and obtain pin
number for online bookings