Agenda and minutes

Councillor V A Fletcher stated that she was a TELDOC patient.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2021 be confirmed and signed by the Chair. 

To agree the Committee’s work programme for the municipal year 2021 to 2022.

The Committee agreed to discuss this item at a later date in a workshop setting.

To receive an update from TELDOC regarding reconfiguration and the status of the primary care network.

The three TELDOC representatives, Dr Ian Chan (Chairman), Dr Rashpal Bhachu (Vice Chairman), and Elaine Edwards (Head of Clinical Workforce and Quality Governance), were invited to make their presentation.

Since last appearing before the Committee in 2019, TELDOC had made significant progress.

At the beginning of Phase 1, there were nine sites; these were small GP surgeries that were not fit for purpose – offering fragmented services. Some of the sites had since been closed. There was also inadequate call handling capacity, with the closure of small sites at Lightmoor, Highfield, and Aqueduct the administrative function had been relocated to a central location to increase clinical space. The centralisation of administrative functions had released three rooms at the Lawley clinic, two at Madeley, as well as a room at Malinslee.

The administrative team had been moved into a new Integrated Care Navigation Centre (ICNC). The centre offered the opportunity to rethink call handling at TELDOC, enabling care navigation and the diversion of patients to the most appropriate services. While call handlers were not clinically trained, the processes had built in a clinically trained back up team for the call handlers. TELDOC looked to not over medicalise health care but to take a holistic approach. To these ends, the group were looking to introduce remote health monitoring for social prescribing.

At the ICNC, there was room for 25 call handlers and for further expansion. The Centre had a wallboard with live waiting times and presented an opportunity to ensure effective and efficient service.

From approval at the HOSC in August 2019, it had taken 9 months to complete the plan. The transformation had been delivered without any closures or disruption to service.

There had been an increase in calls from late 2020 and a decrease in abandonment rates. There had been periods where residents had struggled to get through but that had been because of the vaccination programme.

In terms of appointment slots, the practice had faced difficulty in recruiting clinical staff but they had managed to increase capacity incrementally and rationalisation had allowed that to happen.

There had been no significant complaints about site closures, the practice’s innovation had been well received by patients. The centralisation had brought about a diversification of skill mix and improved cost effectiveness – the savings of which had been reinvested in call handling capacity and staffing.

TELDOC faced a continued challenge in terms of demand with demand continuing to rise. With the lifting of lockdown, the call centre had faced an increased in the volume of calls of 75%. They were also running a vaccination programme, the only practice run programme in Telford.

Among other priorities was addressing inequalities, access to care, population health management, and cancer care survival rate and early detection.

The practice also faced the challenge presented by its sites falling, for the most part, within areas of multiple deprivation.

In Phase 2 of the plan, TELDOC faced challenges such as rising demand, an increased patient population, changes in expectation towards  ...  view the full minutes text for item HAC-21

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