A review of the Referral Management System information and its use by Barnet GPs.
What happens when a GP wants to refer you to a specialist? They send the referral to the Referral Management Service. The RMS team send the patient a letter within three weeks of the referral explaining how to book an appointment,online or via phone.
Barnet CCG in conjunction with Healthwatch Barnet created the Referral Management Service flow chart in 2018 also known as the ‘RMS poster' which provides a step by step guide explaining what to do when a patient is referred. This report reviews the awareness and promotion of the poster in Barnet’s 52 GP practices.
Key points
- To review the awareness and promotion of the RMS poster and leaflets, we conducted a mystery shopping exercise in all 52 GP practices.
- Our staff and volunteers also attended every GP in person, between June & July 2019 to see if the RMS poster was on display and ask practice staff whether patients were receiving a copy when referred to a specialist.
- We found that 76% of the GPs were displaying the poster and found that patients were less confused about the system, as a result of the poster.
- We found that there needs to be more internal communication within management to ensure all staff are aware of the RMS system and the posters.
- Recommendation was made for all practices to display the posters, clearly visible and updated in their practices.
- The Barnet Federated GPs expressed how pleased they were that this poster has helped reduce administration time in supporting RMS queries.
