At the end of launch day, most people tell us “That was much better than I expected!”, “We’re going home with a smile”, “The patients loved it.”

So you should have high expectations.  But… things can go wrong; here are some common pitfalls to avoid:

Forgot to switch askmyGP on – “Offline” appears top left in your staff portal, and patients can’t log requests.  Turn it on in Settings > System and click Update to save changes.

The telephone message doesn’t play to patients.  You forgot, the phone company failed to switch it on and don’t open until 9, the recording was poor, you made it too complicated, you didn’t test it by being a patient.

Consequence:  receptionists had to explain everything to patients from the start.  More grumbles, fewer patients online, time wasted, tired staff.

Your website doesn’t have askmyGP front and centre, especially when viewed on a smartphone.  You didn’t order in time, or your provider didn’t transfer in time, or your website didn’t understand how to do mobile friendly, you didn’t test it by being a patient.  Switch everything over the day before.  If a few patients find and use it, that will reassure you everything is working as expected.

Consequence: patients found your website, but couldn’t find askmyGP, so gave up and phoned again.  Wasted time, tired staff.

Reception don’t direct patients to the website, they cave in to anyone who says “do it for me” put their request in, and only half the volume comes in online, where it could be 70% or more.  Some patients genuinely need help, but most can manage perfectly well themselves.

Consequence: GPs take longer to call patients than message them, pushing up waiting times and rework.  It’s harder to make progress.

The manager isn’t clear that starting the new system means stopping the old one.  Pre-booked appointments remain, or appointments are booked in without going through askmyGP.

Consequence:  trying to operate two systems means more work, slower service and it’s like wading through treacle.

GPs take a while to get started or delay working through and completing requests.  Requests go unanswered until the next day.

Consequence:  slow response means patients ring up to chase, and they aren’t confident to use askmyGP again.  Workload increases.

All the above are easily avoided, so if you take care you’ll have a FABULOUS DAY and never look back.