NHS Connecting for Health has released the latest version of the Choose and Book electronic booking software.
Choose and Book Release 5.0 went live last weekend, and includes redesigned screens as well as additional functionality to support different care pathways and address appointment slot issues.
CfH says the changes will make the e-booking system easier to use and save time for patients, GPs and hospitals.
In total, more than 24m referrals had gone through Choose and Book by the beginning of this month.
Figures for August – the last month for which information is available – show that Choose and Book is now being used for around 500,000 first outpatient referrals each month, or 53% of the total.
It is also being used for between 140,000 and 150,000 other referrals, such as those to clinical assessment services or allied health professionals.
Dr Stephen Miller, a GP in Lambeth and Choose and Book national medical director, told EHI Primary Care that use of the system for first outpatient appointments has stayed “in the mid-fifties” for many months.
However, he said use of the e-booking system for other services was growing all the time.
“GPs do want to use the service, but they want to know that all the services are on there, that they are directly bookable and that there will be an appointment to book for that service," he added.
Dr Miller said the Choose and Book team wanted to make the system as easy to use as possible, because a lot of GPs have received no training in the system and are unlikely to have the time to do any in future.
He added: “It’s now much clearer and more intuitive for referrers. There are several different ways of finding services, using drop-down boxes.
"There is also the ability to search by location, rather than just by postcode, and to search by shortest waiting times.”
Dr Miller said Choose and Book was also “the definitive electronic source of referral information” with many of the 32,000 services listed containing detailed referral information, which GPs could access by clicking on the clinic name.
New functionality in Release 5.0 also means hospitals and other providers can now list services not open for general GP referral, such as specialty clinics referred to from within hospitals or community services available only to certain practices.
Dr Miller added: “I hear time and time again from GPs that they would use the system if they knew all the services they can refer to are on there. This will allow providers to put all those services on there.”
CfH said appointment slot issues on Choose and Book, once as high as 25% in some areas, had fallen to a national average of about 10% and as low as 3% in the capital.
Another new feature of Choose and Book Release 5.0 will allow GPs who cannot find an appointment to click a ‘defer to provider’ button, which will send the patient’s details straight to the hospital for action within four days.
Dr Miller said: “The whole system will now stay within Choose and Book for hospitals which should save a significant amount of time for them and make it much more efficient.”
The government white paper, ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’, and its Choice consultation suggest that all hospitals could be required to list named consultants on Choose and Book.
They also indicate that offering choice could become a contractual obligation for GPs.
CfH said that about 30% of the 32,000 services on Choose and Book list a named consultant. It also said it had evidence from one hospital with 100% named consultants on the system that this was used by GPs in 2-3% of cases.
Dr Miller said it would not be realistic to offer choice without a means of delivering it, such as Choose and Book. “My own experience is that all patients want a choice discussion of some kind,” he said.
CfH has developed new training materials for Release 5.0, including short video demonstrations.