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Patchs Telephone Assistant

Dr Ben Brown
Dr Ben Brown
  • Updated

If you find using online services difficult or you want to avoid telephone queues, you can now leave a voice message for your GP practice using Patchs Telephone Assistant.

Your GP practice will then get back to you as soon as possible.

The Telephone Assistant is not available in all GP practices. Your practice will let you know when this service is available.

Requirements

To use Telephone Assistant, you must be a registered patient at your GP practice and be over 16 years of age.

The Telephone Assistant is currently only available in English.

How to use Patchs Telephone Assistant

To access the Telephone Assistant, your GP practice will either provide:

  1. A dedicated telephone number to call, or
  2. An option you can select when you call their normal telephone number.

Once you are through to the Patchs Telephone Assistant, it will take you through the following steps:

  1. Medical emergency: the Telephone Assistant is not suitable to be used for medical emergencies.
  2. Age: You must be over the age of 16 years.
  3. Identity check: Your identity will be checked by asking your name, date of birth, and post code. If you are calling on behalf of someone you care for (for example your child) it will ask you for your relationship to them. 
  4. Type of message: You select the type of message you want to discuss with your GP practice. You can choose from 'Health Problem', 'Admin Request', or 'Medication Request'.
  5. Questions: You will be asked a few questions about your issue.
  6. Contact details: Confirm the telephone number you would prefer the GP practice to contact you on.
  7. Confirmation: You will receive confirmation that your voice message has been sent to your GP practice. The practice will respond as soon as possible within their opening hours.

Tips on using Telephone Assistant

  • Speak slowly and clearly, so the system can easily understand you.
  • Don't hang up early. Do not end the telephone call until you have been told that your message has been successfully passed to your GP practice. If your call ends before you hear this information, the practice will not receive your message and you will need to start the process again.
  • Remember, you can always speak to a human. If you do not want to use the Telephone Assistant system, you can always call your GP practice and ask to speak to a receptionist.

 

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