Top Tips from Healthwatch Shropshire about attending GP Appointments

Remember to follow these top tips before attending your GP appointment:

• Ask for a timeslot for when your remote consultation will take place.
• Let your health care provider know how you prefer to talk by phone, video or in-person.
• Find somewhere quiet and confidential and, if this isn’t possible or is tricky, make this clear when you are making your appointment.
• Start with a phone call if you’re not confident with video technology.
• Ask for help if you need it and, if possible, do a practice run with a friend.
• Take some time to prepare in advance, consider what you want to say and key questions you would like to ask.
• Ask your health care provider to summarise the next steps at the end of the appointment.
• Remote consultations can be useful for routine appointments or ongoing care with a health care practitioner.
• Not all appointments are suitable for remote consultations, if you would like to see someone in-person please say so.

Top tips for health and care professionals:

• Provide a precise time window for appointments.
• Check that the person is in a confidential and safe place to have the phone or video call.
• Understand the person’s level of confidence using technology and give people a choice of how to communicate.
• Proactively check what the patient needs, clarify what is happening next and who is responsible for the next stages of care.
• Slow down the pace of the consultation, demonstrate active listening.
• Use the chat function in video calls to make the appointment more interactive, share links to information or summarise next steps.
• Don’t ask people to provide information you already have access to.
• Give guidance about how the appointment will work, offer demonstrations, provide an opportunity for a test run/provide some training.
• Seek feedback about peoples’ experiences and use this to improve the service.