Integrated Primary Care

Introducing our integrated primary care proposition

The new partnership combines Doctor Care Anywhere’s 24/7 virtual GP service with our own national network of face-to-face GPs creating the first joined-up primary care proposition of its kind.

This new service will transform the health journeys of patients by allowing them to choose how, when and where they access the primary care services they need. 

Providing patients with choice 

The joint face-to-face and virtual model provides a more patient-centred approach, allowing people to decide what suits them best at a time that works for them. 

This aligns with the new hybrid working models being developed nationwide, and allows access to continuous care whether your employees are at work, at home or in the community.

Benefits of a virtual GP

• Easy online booking
• A choice of times and dates
• Access to medical records at the touch of a button
• Convenient access to an English-speaking GP from anywhere in the world.

As we emerge from the pandemic, virtual GP services can be used to help clear the growing backlog of patients with non-urgent illnesses, as well as routine reviews of certain conditions.

However there are limits to what can be delivered through a virtual consultation. If a patient needs an examination, it's not always possible nor desirable to do this virtually.

Benefits of face-to-face consultations

• Mental health illness
• Breathlessness or chest pain
• Abdominal pain
• Where people have additional needs such as hearing loss, learning difficulties or frailty.

It’s critical to your employees, and therefore our integrated service, that face-to-face appointments remain available to deliver the best outcomes.

How it works

1. On-boarding

Eligibility details are securely provided by corporate organisation to Nuffield Health

2. Authorisation and verification

We confirm identity and personal details to complete registration to platform

3. Booking

Choice of virtual or face-to-face appointment via:

• App
• Telephone
• The Nuffield Health national network.

4. Triage 

We confirm the appointment is appropriate and screen for emergency responses

5. GP appointment

Both virtual and face-to-face GPs operate from the same medical record for consistency and continuity of care

6. Post-appointment

The patient can have follow-up appointments as needed (often with the same clinician) and can be referred as is clinically appropriate

What our GP service provides

• Health advice and treatment for injuries, illness and conditions
• Diagnostics – on-site pathology testing 
• Travel vaccinations
• Prescriptions – delivered to employee’s home, work or available to pick-up at their nearest pharmacy
• Specialist referrals – with support from our referral support team 
• NHS GP kept up-to-date – access to NHS shared care records, automated communication with NHS GP (with patient consent)
• Sports certificates.

What makes us different

• Combined benefit of virtual and face-to-face appointments at your fingertips
• 24/7/365 virtual appointments and in-person appointments from over 40 national locations
• Network of highly qualified and experienced GPs and fully accredited GMC/RCGP doctors
• Choose your GP by name, gender and specialism
• Up to 20-minute per appointments
• Any-time access to patient-friendly, jargon-free consultation notes
• Leaders in clinical governance.

A flexible model to suit you

Flexible pricing models are available to accommodate a range of organisational needs – offering unlimited appointment subscriptions or individual appointment fees that can be company paid, flex or employee-paid. It's a truly unique and bespoke service to suit any employee population.

FAQs

• What if my organisation already has VGP with DCA and F2F GP with Nuffield Health?

  We will work with you in mobilising the joint offering so that your employees have both provisions accessible in the same patient-facing app.

• What if my organisation already has VGP with DCA but no F2F GP with Nuffield Health?

  Our national network of clinics will be available to add into your service provision under an unlimited virtual + face-to-face GP service under multiple commercial models.

• What if my organisation has F2F GP with Nuffield Health but no virtual?

  Combining the benefits of virtual GP and face-to-face enables your employees to access their primary care service wherever and whenever they wish to.

• My organisation have VGP with another provider and F2F GP with Nuffield Health

  Our integrated service offering ensures your employees experience a seamless primary care journey and help us to deliver the best health outcomes.

• Which locations will be available for face-to-face?

  We will be launching with a national network of face-to-face locations that will be available to your employees, and continue to be a leader in offering onsite services to complete our ‘at home, at work and in the community’ offering. Network locations will be confirmed towards the end of 2021 ahead of launching in 2022.

• How does this new integrated service align to the latest NHS guidance?

  Our proposition aligns to NHS England guidance, which asks practices to offer a service where patients can now request face-to-face appointments. Our new joint service empowers the patient to be able to do this intuitively and at their convenience.

• What if the patient doesn’t have a smart phone?

  Health is complex and there is no perfect appointment make-up, but the combination of virtual and face to face GP services helps mitigate against and tackle inequalities in access for patients. So while the proposition enables a digital experience for patients, it can also service those without smart phones who prefer accessing their GP via a more traditional method.

• What are the implications for patient safety?

  Throughout our partnership and development of the integrated service, patient safety has remained paramount. Behind every consultation there is a triage system to ensure that urgent medical conditions are appropriately treated in a timely manner, whatever appointment type is chosen.

• What are the benefits of having both virtual and face-to-face?

  Optimised delivery of healthcare means that digital consultations will become one of several ways patients can choose to access their GP practice. Too often we focus on the differences, but there are more similarities between face-to-face and digital appointments than we acknowledge and having both within the model puts the patient in charge of their experience and their health.