Email Advice & Guidance

Secondary care departments (UHCW) can be emailed via the Advice & Guidance portal for advice on patient management or referral advice using a standard referral that includes contact history, relevant medical history and records of recent investigations

The target for response is 2 days but most are processed within a week

Encrypted confidential advice will be received from secondary care consultants regarding:

• appropriate referral advice
• investigations, management & prescribing advice
• some non acute surgical conditions (eg chronic breast pain) could be managed in this way

Consultant Psychiatrist GP Advice Line

Update 23 February 2024

GP ADVICE AND GUIDANCE PSYCHIATRY Coventry Email referrals

From Monday 19th February 2024 as a trial there will be an option to email requests for Advice and Guidance to psychiatry in Coventry. Psychiatrists will reply by phone for discussion as currently.

The only essential information needed will be the identity of GP and patient, and a GP contact phone number (preferably mobile or direct number attached to email rather than document). If you wish you can use the attached template (pending approval) for clinical information or write a letter. This remains a service for GPs to discuss patients they are seeing, where psychiatry advice might help patient care.

Psychiatrists are aware not to include GPs private numbers in reply letters.

The referral email address is: gpadviceline@covwarkpt.nhs.uk

How to hide documents from the records so when sent via Accurx personal contact details are not visible :

In the document before you file  click on properties:

 

Change online visibility to:

 

 

Press ok then Save

 

 

If you forget you can also  do this form the documents screen 

 

CWPT – GP Advice Line 024 7693 2420 

If in doubt about a psychiatry referral or you wish for any other advice including about medication, clarity around referrals or care plans etc. call 02476 932420 (between 9.45am-4.30pm Monday to Friday)

Someone from the team will aim to respond within 48 hours to non-urgent issues and will signpost if the issue is of an urgent nature.

The telephone call will be followed by a summary of the management advice.

New Consultant Connect Haematology Advice & Guidance Pilot October 2021

NEW HAEMATOLOGY A&G PILOT: LAUNCHING THURSDAY 7^th October 2021

We are pleased to let you know that Haematology Advice & Guidance is now provided locally by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, via Consultant Connect. This is a pilot – whereby usage, feedback and impact will be reviewed ahead of continuation.

This is now your primary route to request Advice & Guidance for all non-urgent queries, which aim be responded to within 48 – 72 hours. This service will replace the Telephone Advice & Guidance route previously provided by our National Consultant Network.

If there is an emergency then you will have the option to call “Urgent Haematology Pathway” between 9am – 5pm Mon- Fri, via Consultant Connect, where you will be connected with the on-call Specialist Trainee Doctor. This should be reserved only for the most urgent situations. Please note: eRS will still be checked and responded to – but where possible A&G should be sought via Consultant Connect.

Haematology Advice & Guidance will be available via Messaging*.

*Please note: This is primarily a Messaging service, but Photos can be attached, to share photos of rashes that could be important (drug reactions) and to snapshot bloods if the results are from an out-of-area source and not available on CRRS. Adding a photo is not a requirement.

Accessing Haematology Advice & Guidance and Urgent Pathway

Urgent Pathway – Telephone

• The easiest way to access the Urgent Haematology Pathway is via the Consultant Connect App – download from the App Store or Google Play. You can make a call at the touch of a button, as specialty access numbers are pre-programmed in.
• If you do not have access to the app, you can also call via your Dial-In Number – if you do not remember your Dial-In Number, please contact Joanne (details below).

Messaging

• Messaging Advice & Guidance can be accessed via the Consultant Connect App and via the Consultant Connect platform.
• For more information, please read our ‘IG Secure Messaging’ guide.

Attaching Photos

• Photo-Messaging Advice & Guidance can be accessed via the Consultant Connect App and via the Consultant Connect platform.

New Consultant Connect Paediatrics Advice & Guidance Pilot August 2021

• New Consultant Connect Cardiology Advice & Guidance Pilot June 2021

  

  Link to Cardiology ECG & Echo Report Advice & Guidance Guide – Click here

Urgent Connect GP Liaison Pre referral advice

See GP Liaison / Urgent connect page follow link

Using Teledermatology

GPs also have access to the Consultant Connect Teledermatology Advice & Guidance service.

To use this service, clinicians can log into the free Consultant Connect App and select PhotoSAF (camera icon) at the bottom of the screen.

If GPs are carrying out remote consultations, they can use the IG secure Consultant Connect Platform to upload photos taken by patients that require specialist opinion. To learn how, please click here.

When GPs use this service, all images are saved to a secure cloud rather than their phone. The images will also be sent to the clinicians NHS email address, following submitting an A&G request, along with a PDF summary.

To find out more about how to use the Consultant Connect Teledermatology service, your GPs can read this step-by-step guide.

We also have a Dermatology case study about a Dr Andreas Photiou, a Coventry & Rugby GP who used the PhotoSAF feature on the Consultant Connect App to improve the patient care provided, you can find it here.

Using the GP Liaison Line

The GP Liaison line offers a single point of contact for emergency referrals.

The GP Liaison Nurse answering the line, can support and facilitate admission to the most appropriate specialist service, according to individual patient needs.

The aim  is to reduce emergency admissions by ensuring that GPs have access to specialist services and fast track clinics.

Please note: the final decision regarding the route of admission for the patient remains with the referring clinician.

Accessing the GP Liaison Line:

The quickest way to access the GP Liaison line is via the free Consultant Connect App – download from the App Store or Google Play.

Alternatively, you can use your surgery’s unique Dial-In Number. Please contact Lucy Sammons (lucy.sammons@consultantconnect.org.uk) if you are unsure of your surgery’s Dial-In Number.

GPs please remember to select an outcome at the end of your calls. This assists us to assess a conclusion to your patient’s treatment. The options are as follows:

• Referral Avoided
• Referral Made
• Diagnostics Requested
• Admission Avoided
• Admission Made

If you have any queries or questions regarding your Advice & Guidance Service, please email Lucy Sammons (lucy.sammons@consultantconnect.org.uk) or give her a call on 0775385798.

How it works

GP calls the service using bespoke contact details whilst the patient is still with them to obtain Advice & Guidance from a local specialist.

The call is put straight through to a “rota” of local specialty consultants in 80% of cases. GPs are advised to call again 10 minutes later if no answer.

If a consultant on the rota does not answer the call, the call automatically loops through to the next consultant on the rota until the call is answered.

The GP speaks with the consultant, who offers immediate Advice and Guidance, and helps decide the appropriate course of action for the patient.

At the end of the call, the GP should rate the call outcome, for example “referral made” or “referral avoided” from the options offered.

A recording of the call is stored in compliance with GDPR for patient and medico-legal purposes and can be accessed for attachment to NHS patient records.

Consultant Connect has a full reporting suite, allowing instantaneous access to real time call statistics and referrals data.

Commissioners can see how many calls have been made from which GPs to which consultants.

Aims

• Improving the patient experience (including time / cost / convenience)
• Removing the wait for a response to a written application as everything is experienced in real time
• Increasing clinician specialist knowledge through discussions with specialists
• Reduced time spent on administration
• Secondary care see a reduction in unnecessary referrals and workload
• Improved communication
  

  Earn CPD Points when you use the Consultant Connect App

  Clinicians in Coventry and Rugby CCG and Warwickshire North CCG can now earn CPD points by using the Consultant Connect App for Advice & Guidance.

  Download the free Consultant Connect App from the App Store or Google Play.

  How to start earning CPD points

  • Simply use the app to make a Telephone Advice & Guidance call or request written advice using the ‘Messages’ function.
  • Call duration must be over 1.5 minutes.
  • You must leave an outcome e.g. Referral Avoided. A pop-up message will remind you to leave the outcome when you end your call.
  • Your call or message must be for specialist Advice & Guidance (e.g. not to confirm an admission or call to a switchboard).
  • 6 calls/messages that meet the above criteria will earn you 1 CPD point.

  Accessing your CPD points statement

  • Log into the secure desktop platform using the same login details you use for the Consultant Connect App.
  • Click on ‘Profile’ then ‘Download CPD points statement’ to download and view.

  More information

  • Earning CPD points via the Consultant Connect App Guide
  • Primary Care Start-Up Guide – to help you get started with using the Consultant Connect App

  If you have any questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact:

  Joanne Hardway Email: joanne.hardway@consultantconnect.org.uk Tel: 01865 261467