Welcome
Your GP practice and NHS England would like your help with a project which aims to help make it easier for everyone to go online to request health advice.
Before you decide, it is important that you understand why this project is being done and what it would involve for you.
Anything you share during the project will not be shared with your GP practice and will not affect the care you receive from the NHS.
Please take time to read this information and discuss it with others if you wish. If there is anything that is not clear, or if you would like more information, please ask us by emailing [email protected] or by calling 07960 957 757.
Questions you might have
What is the aim of the project?
The findings of this project will help us to suggest improvements to the wider NHS and digital companies that provide software used by the NHS.
We will work with 48 patients from four GP practices in London, including your practice.
What will I be asked about and asked to do?
We want to observe you using online consultation systems and ask you how easy you find it to use. We will also ask about a recent experience to contact your GP practice when you needed advice or treatment about a minor health issue.
For example, we’d like to ask you:
- How easy you find using the online consultation tool
- About your confidence using digital services and doing different things online
- How you decide where to go to get treatment for a minor health issue and what influences your decision?
- How you access your GP practice and related health services when you have a minor illness?
- How you feel your needs were met on a recent visit with your GP practice? (This visit or contact may have been through the website, by telephone, by video call, by text or by using the online consultation service).
- About your experiences of receiving advice or treatment from a pharmacist in your local pharmacy
- About your view of being advised by your GP practice to seek help from a pharmacist
What will I be asked about and asked to do?
We want to observe you using online consultation systems and ask you how easy you find it to use. We will also ask about a recent experience to contact your GP practice when you needed advice or treatment about a minor health issue.
For example, we’d like to ask you:
- How easy you find using the online consultation tool
- About your confidence using digital services and doing different things online
- How you decide where to go to get treatment for a minor health issue and what influences your decision?
- How you access your GP practice and related health services when you have a minor illness?
- How you feel your needs were met on a recent visit with your GP practice? (This visit or contact may have been through the website, by telephone, by video call, by text or by using the online consultation service).
- About your experiences of receiving advice or treatment from a pharmacist in your local pharmacy
- About your view of being advised by your GP practice to seek help from a pharmacist
Why have I been invited?
We are inviting you to take part because you are a patient of this GP practice, and have had an appointment with us in the last 6 months for a minor condition that your GP thinks could have been managed by a local pharmacist.
Your participation is voluntary, and you can change your mind at any stage
Taking part is voluntary and you can change your mind at any time. You can also change your mind after you have taken part in the project without giving a reason. Just contact Luke Whewall, Junior Consultant from NHS England on [email protected] or on 07876 582 771.
You will be reimbursed if you complete a user research session
Upon completion of the user research session you will receive an instant digital delivery of a £40 multi-brand gift card, which can be used to purchase items from a variety of popular, market leading brands.
When is it taking and place and what will I be asked to do?
he project is taking place between May and August this year. To check your suitability for the project we will have a 15 min telephone call with you first. If you meet our criteria, you will be invited to take part in one video call session which will take about 60 minutes.
This session will happen online by a video call. This means you will be at home in front of your computer, laptop, tablet or your mobile phone and join the call online.
We will arrange all of this with you well before the session and we’ll give you a call just before to check that you are ready and help you set-up if needed.
After the video call we’ll write to you by email/post to say thank-you and to let you know what we found out and how this will help improve services.
We will treat your participation with confidence, respect your privacy and follow NHS guidelines around data protection.
What happens in a video-call?
- This will take place by a video-call using Microsoft Teams, and we will send you in advance the details of the call and the link and we’ll call you just before to check everything is working and to see if you need any help.
- During this call we will ask you to share your screen so that you can show us how you use the online consultation tools.
- We will remind you to close-up anything personal or private on your screen and our interviewer will not ask for personal information – but will ask you to confirm you are happy to proceed.
Will I be recorded and how will the recorded media be used?
- With your consent we will record the interview
- Other people involved in the design of the service may watch the recording of your session in the future.
- These recordings will be treated as confidential and will not be shared outside of the NHS
- The recording will be deleted at the when the final report is complete ( estimated to be at the end of 2021).
Note: If COVID restrictions allow, this session will take place in a location acceptable to you.
Will the session be observed?
With your consent (and only if you consent), the session will be observed by other members of the team.
Additional information
- We really value your participation and helping us to improve services, but we won’t be able to pay you for your time.
- The NHSCB has a duty to exercise its functions with a view to securing continuous improvement in the quality of services provided to individuals. It also has a duty under section 13E(2) to act with a view to securing continuous improvement in the outcomes that are achieved from the provision of the
- The outcomes relevant for the purposes of section 13E(2) are:
- The effectiveness of the services;
- The safety of the services; and
- The quality of the experience undergone by patients
- The outcomes relevant for the purposes of section 13E(2) are:
In discharging this duty, the NHSCB must have regard to any document published by the SoS for the purposes of section 13E and the quality standards prepared by NICE under section 234 of the HSCA. (NHS Act 2006, S13E, HSCA 2012 S23)
- The lawful Basis for processing of data under GDPR Article 9 (2)h – The processing is necessary for health or social care purposes.
I would like to take part … what should I do next?
Make sure you have read all of this information.
And express your interest by emailing [email protected].
Let us know if you need help to take part, everyone is welcome
If you’d like someone to sit with you, or someone to help with translating that’s great, just let us know what support you need. If you use assistive technology, please let us know which type and we will contact you to talk through further.
If you would like help in any other way and have any questions or concerns you’d like to talk through please contact Luke Whewall, Junior Consultant at NHS England at any time on [email protected] or 07876 582 771.