The challenge

Taran is one of five GP partners working within a city-based practice. He and his colleagues face increasing pressure from the volume of patient medication requests and pathology test results sent to the practice each day. The practice has already employed a dedicated administrator to process and file patient-related correspondence, as well as a locum GP to focus on reviewing prescription requests and test results. However, the volume of information sent to the practice continues to increase and is preventing GP partners from spending as much time as they want with patients. Additionally, more resources are needed, which will add to the practice overhead.

Taran knows that this is a common problem across his Primary Care Network (PCN) and wonders if there’s a way that all practices can work together to address the problem.

The solution

The PCN approaches Agentis Healthcare to explore digitised options for managing incoming patient requests for medication. We suggest a pharmacist-led package of support, which incorporates clinical expertise and digitised processes.

Approximately 5% of patient requests will be triaged and escalated to the appropriate practice clinician to provide essential medical input. The rest are managed end-to-end by Agentis without the need for practice intervention.

What we do

Repeat prescriptions are mapped against the patient’s medication record, while new, acute, or amended requests are reviewed by an Agentis Healthcare pharmacist. Any issues – such as early requests, dosage queries or potential interactions – are flagged and resolved. Ongoing monitoring requirements, including blood tests, blood pressure checks and long-term condition reviews are also arranged where needed.

Medication reviews are completed as required to ensure that treatment remains safe, effective and appropriate. Where further clinical input is required, requests are escalated to the appropriate clinician with a clear summary of the pharmacist’s review, resulting in a marked reduction of administration for GPs and improved clinical safety.

Expected outcomes

Patients will benefit from faster prescription request processing times, as well as access to medicines advice and support where required. Those needing discussion with a clinician will receive a pharmacist-informed response more quickly than going through the practice.

Taran would pay a subscription as part of a PCN-wide initiative, saving his practice significant cost and reducing the time spent by practice staff on processing these requests by up to 75%, based on our activities elsewhere.

More widely, the PCN will achieve a significant cost saving across all participating GP practices within their network, enabling funds to be spent on other patient services and initiatives.

NB: this is an illustration of how we can support practices across a PCN in improving efficiency and capacity.