Online triage at a GP involves a patient submitting their symptoms or requests through an online form instead of calling. A trained member of staff reviews the submission to assess the urgency and determine the most appropriate care, such as booking a face to face or phone appointment, providing healthcare advice, or referring to another service. This triage system aims to improve efficiency for the practice and reduce waiting times for patients by processing non-urgent requests online.
NHS England » You and your general practice – English
How it works
- Submit your request online: Patients can fill out a form on their GP’s website or through the NHS App, providing details about their symptoms, requests, and medical history.
- Request details: The form may ask about the duration, severity, and any treatments already tried to help the clinician assess the situation.
- Clinician review: A clinician or trained member of staff reviews the submitted request.
- Care is determined: Based on the review, the practice will respond with the next steps. This could be:
- A direct invitation to book an appointment (which might be online, by phone, or in-person).
- Healthcare advice and guidance on self-care.
- Referral to another service, such as a pharmacist or a specialist.
- An administrative action, such as processing a prescription request or sick note.
- Response time: Practices typically aim for a quick response, sometimes within a few hours, though they may guarantee a response within the same working day.
Using an online form
There are many things you can do online at our surgery. Some tasks you can do using our website where you can:
- request an appointment
- request a sick note
- ask about test results
- contact us about an admin request
You don’t need an account to use this website.
Using your NHS account or Patient Access
There are other tasks you can do online, like:
- order repeat prescriptions
- view your test results
- access your health record
- check or cancel appointments
- see your vaccination record
For these, you can use your NHS account (through the NHS website or NHS App) or Patient Access.
Setting up an NHS account
To set up your NHS account for the first time, you will need to set up an NHS login. Read about how to set up NHS login (nhs.uk).
Once you have set up your NHS login, you can log in to your NHS account or download the NHS App onto your phone.
Setting up Patient Access
To set up Patient Access for the first time:
- fill out a register for online services form
- upload or visit the surgery with photo ID so we can confirm your identity
- we will give you a username and password
- go to Patient Access or use the app to register