A GP practice located in the south-west of England sought the support of Livi to provide additional clinical capacity at a time of crisis. With some members of the clinical team leaving general practice, there was an immediate and pressing need for clinical resource at speed.
“We contacted Livi to look at how we might get some additional GP capacity into the practice using a remote consultation model,” says the surgery’s GP partner. “This was actually at a time when there was quite a lot of fluctuation at the practice, so we had a gap in our GP provision.”
Contracted through the Winter Access Fund, the surgery has utilised Livi to supplement and support their clinical team. Initially mobilised for a short-term, interim period, the partnership has been such a success that Livi has continued working with the surgery over the past year and a half.
Resilience when needed
The practice serves over 10,000 patients across a large semi-rural area, and Livi provides remote consultations where and when the team requires additional GP time. Utilising the Livi Practice model, the service has enabled the team to build resilience and also provided cover at times of sick leave.
The Livi Practice model, which I think is going to be of benefit to many practices around the country, gives practices capacity when they need.
GP Partner
Previously when the surgery had instances of absence, the team had struggled to fill the gap. Now, the practice can call upon a readily-available source of clinical support in Livi. This built-in resilience is something the practice has greatly appreciated as it has enabled the surgery to overcome what was a consistent obstacle previously.
The practice says, “It’s useful in terms of resilience because we don’t have to worry about who’s going to cover. The sessions are provided by Livi. So if somebody is off sick, for example at Livi’s end, then Livi will do something to solve that problem."
Seamless support
The team have also greatly appreciated the seamless nature of support provided by Livi. With Livi Practice, Livi clinicians and appointments are visible and integrated within the surgery’s clinical and patient record system. Records, information and clinical notes are all recorded on the same system in the same way as the team would usually.
“It’s seamless and Livi GPs simply task the jobs to be picked up by the same team members that we do. It’s basically like having additional GPs but not onsite, just GPs working remotely for us,” says the GP partner.
Easing pressure on practice teams
On a weekly basis, Livi provides the practice with five sessions a week with each session consisting of 16 appointments. In total, the service can deliver up to 320 appointments a month. The additional capacity also makes it easier for the practice reception team to offer appointments. This has been greatly needed for some time with the practice located in an area of high demand. Typically, the reception can see double the amount of calls that similar sized practices in neighbouring areas would receive.
Continued success
The practice has highlighted the quality of clinical care provided by regular Livi doctors who patients have gotten to know as simply part of the team. Livi has also built a strong relationship with the practice by listening and responding to needs consistently with all feedback on the service actioned.
Livi gave us the immediate capacity which was quite helpful in the interim. But also after we replaced staff we kept it going because it gives us some consistent extra capacity. I think that other practices should look at Livi to help them get away from this need for locums when they’re struggling with getting a regular GP. Because actually it’s better than having locums by a long way.
Further information about Livi
Find out more about Livi Practice.
Talk to our team on partnerships-uk@livi.co.uk.
