GIRFT has developed a short how-to video explaining how secondary care clinicians can make best use of the programme’s toolkits and templates to reduce the time taken to respond to Advice and Guidance (A&G) requests.
The two-minute video demonstrates the benefits of using GIRFT’s range of A&G resources, which are designed to enhance communication between primary and secondary care and reduce unnecessary delays.
GIRFT currently has A&G templates covering common conditions suspected in children and young people (CYP) services, dermatology and urology, with others for rheumatology, gastroenterology and gynaecology also coming soon.
The resources have been developed by bringing together working groups of clinicians from primary and secondary care to draft templates which are helpful to both the specialists using them and the GPs receiving them.
A&G, also known as Specialist Advice Services, allows GPs to obtain advice from specialists in secondary care, which means patients get advice on their suspected condition more quickly than waiting to see a specialist in the outpatient department.
The GIRFT toolkits offers tips on making optimal use of A&G and include templates which can be adapted in response to A&G requests for conditions such as eczema and psoriasis in dermatology, urinary tract symptoms and chronic testicular pain in urology, and abdominal pain and faltering growth for CYP.
The colour-coded templates aim to improve the timeliness and quality of responses back to GPs, allowing a personalised response which is tailored to the patient’s presentation, with the most important information clearly highlighted and scope for local processes and requirements to be flagged.
