The patient line number allows a select group of patients to call directly back to IUC without going via NHS111. It is important that the Patient Line is used for appropriate cases. Reasons for clinicians to provide the patient line number to carer/ patient:
- When there is a significant chance that further IUC input will be needed prior to the patient’s own GP next being open eg, symptomatic/ unstable palliative patients, or in patients/carers for whom the “handle” of a direct call-back number is likely to provide a significant boost to their confidence and ability to self-care
- To support holding a higher level of risk and/ or uncertainty in IUC. This may arise when there is a conscious awareness that it is a borderline decision to, for example, not see the patient following telephone assessment
- To support the ‘consult and hold’Follow Up model in IUC, where giving the patient line number means that the patient does not need to be actively followed up by IUC
- Provided at the time of triage for a home visit, to facilitate contact with the service if there is clinical deterioration prior to the arrival of the visiting clinician
- When leaving voicemails for patients about abnormal pathology results. The patient line number can be left in the voicemail, to enable the patient to call us back directly and expediently
- In the daytime CAS, the patient line number can be provided to support ‘consult and hold’, or to facilitate call-back in ‘health information’ cases when the patient cannot be reached (eg. “…and if I have not heard back within a couple of hours I will assume your query has been addressed”…then the case can be closed) and holding clinical risk/ uncertainty as outlined above. For these patients, the patient line number can be used during the same daytime CAS period and the OOH period immediately following it. (Eg a CAS contact on Tuesday at 10am could utilise the patient line number until 8am on Weds am)
Clinicians providing the patient line number must:
- Emphasise that the number can only be used for the time period between the current IUC consultation, and the patient’s own GP next opening. Outside of this period, the patient will need to either contact their own GP directly, or telephone NHS111
- Once active, clinicians will need to log that they have provided the patient line number when closing the CLEO case