The phone message heard by your patients is a very efficient way to encourage people to use online services. 
It is therefore crucial to get this right.
Can we help you to keep it simple?
- Don’t tell your patients to call 999 in case of emergency. They know this already. Only 1 in 250 calls to GP is an emergency, and your team is best placed to redirect if the patient mistakenly calls you.
- Don’t start by telling your patients that the call may be recorded for quality and training purposes. It’s not the most important part of the message you need to convey.
- Don’t give your patients a menu to navigate. These frustrate and confuse patients who are very likely to pick the “wrong” one anyway. Different times for different services? Just keep it simple.
So what do you need to say? The objective here is to guide patients to your website. Receptionists benefit from having authority to explain this to the vast majority of patients. Help them out by having a GP read one simple message. In case there’s a long wait to be answered, follow this up with a hold message.
The following are our suggestions. Adapt them according to the needs of your practice.
“Thank you for calling [practice name], I’m Dr [name] and I’d like your help. We offer a service called askmyGP, which makes it faster and easier for you to get help.
Go to our website [your practice website address] and click the askmyGP logo. You can use a smartphone or computer to enter your details and your symptoms, medical problem or any other question.
You can seek help for your child or someone you care for so long as the patient is registered with the practice. askmyGP saves you having to ring up, and there’s never a queue online.
We respond as quickly as possible within working hours. If you do not have a smartphone or access to the internet, please continue to hold and we will try to connect you.
If you can go online, please help us by reserving this line for those who don’t, and for medical emergencies. By sending your request online, you will not have to explain your problem to a receptionist, and you are likely to get help faster. Our website again: [your practice website].”
If patients decide to stay on the phone, they are often in a queue and you can repeat a shorter reminder of the above (again, get a GP to record this), e.g.:
“Rather than stay on hold, you can use askmyGP to request help at any time. This helps us respond faster as well as being more convenient for you. Please go to our website [your practice website] and click the askmyGP icon.”
There’s an good example you can listen to here:
If you have a separate out of hours message, we recommend you change this too:
“Thank you for calling [practice name], I’m Dr [name]. The practice is now closed, and we can offer you a choice. If you would like help from your own GP at your own practice, please go to our website [your practice website] and click the askmyGP logo. Everything is explained there and we will respond as soon as we are next open for normal surgery hours. If you feel your need is urgent and cannot wait until then, please [continue to hold, or call 111, as per local arrangement].
