Mill Road Surgery has always strived to improve patient experience, and we are incredibly grateful to have a strong reputation because of our relationship with our patients. In recent years however, due to limited funding from NHS England, we are having to think of different ways we can deliver safe care to our patients and making the most out of every pound spent.

NHS England have steered the focus of General Practice in the direction of Digital Health. Digital Health in simple terms means increased access via digital avenues to access healthcare. This does not mean healthcare is exclusively delivered digitally, nor does it mean access for those who do not use digital platforms is limited. It simply allows those who can submit requests digitally to do so from the comfort of their home, at their workplace, during the school rush etc., as opposed to needing to be physically present at the surgery.

Those who cannot access the surgery via these means are still able to present to the surgery reception team, or call via our phone lines, and we anticipate waiting times on our phones will decrease significantly due to the increase in digital requests as opposed to verbal requests. We ask that you work with us through this transition, we know change is not always well-received at first, however we have carefully thought out these new pathways and have always kept patient experience in mind when considering different providers.

We are aware that other surgeries who implemented this had initially received voiced concerns by their patients, only to find that access increased significantly within the first few weeks, with patient satisfaction increasing drastically. With this in mind, please be respectful to our staff during this transition and we thank you for your kind understanding and patience.

What is AccuRx?

AccuRx is an online platform that connects our clinical and admin teams to you via online requests. You may be familiar with submitting non-clinical requests via our dashboard, such as repeat prescriptions, queries to reception and more administrative queries. AccuRx incorporates all the previous non-clinical requests but also facilitates clinical requests in the first instance. These clinical requests will go directly to the clinical team who will review its urgency and what appropriate action needs to be taken, from here you will receive a response of the clinician’s assessment and what further action needs to be taken, this could include a prescription, a booked face to face appointment, a telephone appointment, or simply some advice. AccuRx has a proven record of significantly reducing call waiting times, increasing access, and shortening waiting times for appointments in other surgeries.

How do I submit an admin or medical query?

You can submit this via our ‘Reception and Enquiries’ tab on the website, or by clicking the link below:

• Contact us about your request

Alternatively, you can call our reception team on 01206 845900. Please note the reception team will complete the above form on your behalf if you call.

What if I don’t have access to the internet?

You can call the surgery where one of the team will complete this form on your behalf. Therefore, phone lines will be reserved for those who need to use them, as opposed to all patients rushing to queue at 8am where they could otherwise submit the form online via their phone, tablet or computer.

Who will deal with my query?

For administrative queries, this will be a member of the admin team. For medical queries, this will be a clinician, either a doctor or nurse practitioner/paramedic practitioner, dependent on the type of query.

What queries can I send in?

• Admin queries: including change of address, prescription queries and medical forms for a doctor to fill in.
• Medical queries: including minor illnesses, vaccinations, medication reviews, skin conditions, contraception and much more (please see patient leaflet).

How much information must I include?

Ideally as much as possible as this will help us to manage your request or query efficiently for you.

What if I want to queue outside for 8am to guarantee an appointment?

This will not be possible from 27th January 2025. You will be asked either to complete the form on your smart phone or our receptionist can complete it on your behalf. This request will then be sent to the clinicians who will review it with the same priority as someone completing it at home, or via the telephone. This will remove the ‘8am rush’ in totality, as requests will be dealt with based on urgency as opposed to submission time.

We feel this process is a fairer way of dealing with requests, meaning those with urgent requests can be seen as a higher priority, whereas those with routine requests may be asked to wait up to 2 weeks for an appointment. As this is assessed by a clinician, we are confident that this is the safest avenue for triaging appointments.

How long will it take to process my query?

We will process your request or query up to two working days dependent on clinical urgency. If you need to see a clinician in an absolute emergency, please visit the Urgent Treatment Centre within the grounds of Colchester General Hospital or call 999.

Do I need to create an account?

No, you can submit a request for yourself or on behalf of someone else and you do not require an account. The process is faster if you login via the NHS app to complete this, as it pre-populates your personal information, however this is not obligatory.

Will this take over the role of your staff?

No. AccuRx will be an aid to our staff, but we will still require our clinical team and administrative team just as much, all that changes is instead of dealing with requests verbally they will be written. We anticipate that some additional time will be freed up for administrative staff which will allow for faster processing of other essential tasks.

Do I need to download an app?

No. AccuRx is a platform embedded within our website. To access AccuRx click the red ‘Contact us Online’ panel on the home page. You can access it via the NHS app however this is not essential. To not require an app was part of the essential criteria when reviewing AccuRx and other competitors, as we want to make it as easy as we can for patients to submit their requests for themselves or on behalf of others.

If you would like to submit a request via the NHS app, click on the ‘services’ tab on the bottom, and select ‘Contact your GP about a health problem’ for medical queries, or ‘Contact your GP surgery for a document or update’ for an administrative query. You are also able to request repeat prescription medication via the app too by selecting ‘Request repeat prescriptions’. This will then redirect you to AccuRx and pre-populate all your personal information from the app.