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In May 2023, NHSE released a GP website benchmarking and improvement tool.

The tool has three focuses but the top two are:

1. The top tasks that patients want to do on a GP website
2. The things that patients found most challenging on GP websites

At our PCN, we used this tool to benchmark our GP websites, improve them, and create an adjusted benchmarking framework that meets all NHS guidelines.

How do our GP websites meet the top tasks that patients want to do on a GP website? 

There are four key patient priorities when they visit a GP website: 

• Book appointments, 
• Repeat prescription information, 
• Get test results, 
• Find opening hours and contact information

Recent GP website design adopted square boxes for each item.

We followed this best practice; the first two boxes are book appointments and repeat prescription information.

Grouped the test results and repeat prescriptions under the NHS App box.

As the NHS App has become a preferred way of managing test result requests

Information on opening hours and contact-us were grouped as top items on the website menu. 

We use a homepage pop-up, but how does it help patients use the website?

The NHS GP website benchmarking tool identified overlays and pop-ups as the most inconvenient features of many GP websites.

However, while collaborating with the management team and drawing significant input from the Patient and Care Co-ordinator Teams (PCT),

we agreed that a pop-up was necessary to improve patient access to the appointment booking link.

Although time constraints prevented me from conducting A/B tests on all the website buttons to analyze user behavior and peak interaction times,

data from the PCT indicated that most patients were primarily seeking the appointment booking link.

As a result, we implemented a well-designed pop-up as an effective solution to enhance patient engagement on the website.

Why Pop-ups Could Be a Good Addition to GP Websites

Most GP websites that collect data to understand user interactions already use cookie consent pop-ups.

The key advantage is that these pop-ups are carefully designed to load seamlessly with the website,

rather than appearing afterward. This reduces the element of surprise for visitors, who might otherwise associate pop-ups with intrusive, ad-heavy websites—an issue that can negatively impact usability.

Similarly, transactional pop-ups can be implemented in the same user-friendly way.

These pop-ups remain a highly effective and personal tool for guiding users to essential features and encouraging them to make the most of the website.

When well-designed, a pop-up that serves its purpose and directs users to the right place can significantly enhance the user experience, making it a valuable addition to GP websites.

Why Did We Revamp the Website?

The previous website was difficult to navigate.

While it had a functional translation button, the large homepage slider occupied excessive space, and the overuse of multiple colours failed to create a caring atmosphere for patients visiting the site.

Much of the information was outdated, including COVID-19 guidelines from years ago, which were irrelevant by 2024.

Additionally, patient feedback survey links were broken, and redundant links cluttered the site, leading to the same pages repeatedly.

There was also a lack of guidance on how to use the website effectively, and the copyright information was stuck in 2017, indicating the functionality wasn’t coded to update dynamically with the year.

Ultimately, the website did not reflect the excellent work of the team, which had earned the GP its current Good CQC rating.

A revamp was necessary to align the website’s functionality and aesthetics with the quality of care provided.

Why Website Suppliers Alone Are Not the Answer to a Compliant GP Surgery Website

Delivering a website that requires regular updates demands more than just outsourcing to website suppliers—it requires ongoing technical skills and attention to detail to maintain usability and compliance.

One critical aspect is the ability to clearly define areas for static and dynamic content.

For example, the homepage notice displaying prescription opening times is frequently updated and must remain accurate to serve patients effectively.

To address this need, I created a custom post type called “homepage notice.”

This feature allows quick updates with minimal effort while limiting the displayed content to three items to keep the section focused and relevant.

This level of customization ensures the website remains compliant, user-friendly,

and reflective of the high standards of care provided by the surgery—something website suppliers alone cannot consistently deliver without in-house oversight and technical expertise.

And the admins were adequately trained to make use of that feature.

It would be difficult to break things with the way it is being updated.

The reality is that website suppliers alone won’t solve the problem of inaccessible GP websites. While there are excellent suppliers out there

Any supplier could do a similar thing, but that personable approach working with non-technical staff to get the requirement. 

That results in usable websites as this needs more agency engagement with the surgery.

Which, in a way, can also increase the cost of the website package

The Role of Digital Transformation Leads (DTLs) in Enhancing GP Websites Through User Insights

The surgery is always busy, with a constant need to deliver safe care to patients.

While GP partners and practice management dedicate limited hours to service improvement, their focus is primarily on clinical pathways.

Digital tools, which play a crucial role, are often outsourced.

One solution is to have technically skilled individuals serve as Data and Digital Leads or Digital Transformation Leads,

especially for large PCNs, granting them access to GP surgery websites and other digital systems.

For example, a website requires:

• A domain name (e.g., the practice name).
• Hosting (where files are stored, like common data).
• A platform (content management system, like EMIS).
• A theme (the look and feel, e.g., an Arden’s template).
• Content (the actual information).

A VPS Linux Hosting Account with unlimited traffic of up to 1 Gbit/s from IONOS

and 16 GB RAM in a UK data centre costs £28/month and can host up to 50 GP WordPress websites.

An average GP website costs £800 per year, while with the same amount you can set up a multi-wordpress site for all GP surgery in a PCN including the domain names. 

With this setup individual practices can still have access to their unique website login.

While also benefiting from centralised website content updates.

Why WordPress is the Most Suited for GP & PCN Websites

When it comes to IT solutions, numbers matter. 

WordPress powers 43% of all websites globally with a large amount of developers contributing to the platform.

This means you can easily find WordPress talent than you would ASP.net

Some suppliers use the Nightingale theme build by NHS Leadership Academy Digital Team

you can use the same.

It makes it easier to deploy an NHS compliant website in minutes

Learn WordPress in 13 Minutes

Whether you are a DTL or a practice data/digital lead,

you can learn WordPress basics using their study hours or Protected Learning Time (PLT). 

You don’t need to write a single line of code to start. 

With WordPress, the possibilities are endless,

and its flexibility can unlock simplified ways to keep your practice website always relevant and updated. 

See this skill factory WordPress in 13 minutes.

Download the NHS Nightingale WordPress theme here

Our PCN got into 2024 at 55% NHS App uptake.

A fairly good amount, but our ICB wanted 70% by December 2024.

If we increased monthly registration from 140 to 220, we could only reach 70% by December 2025 (one year later).

The Challenge:

Covid-19 was the primary reason many people downloaded the NHS App.

I was told, “We do not tell people which app to use; they just figure it out.”

GPs were only responsible for issuing online access. This means giving people access to their medical records.

But not how they access this record.

The GP staff issues a linkage key, and the patient decides whether to use it on Evergreenlive, Patient Access, or tens of other patient-facing service providers

However, the risk I found with this is when you see the GP Patient Survey, only the NHS App and GP website access option were taken into account

They are one of the two areas in which patients of GP surgeries have expressed dissatisfaction the most.

What we did to increase the NHS App Uptake

1. I worked with Marta Fischer, the ICB Digital Access Lead, to train our GP admin staff on how to support patients getting on the NHS App
2. Organised a drop-in session supported by our GP practice managers and colleagues
3. Established a monthly Digital Café, now Digital Clinic at both practices to support people to download and use the NHS App

We have now increased our NHS App uptake to a pre-covid record high of 400 monthly registrations

• Expected to reach 70% 6 months earlier than projected
• 64% uptake in December 2024
• Have knowledgeable GP staff supporting and triaging patients with NHS App issues
• Issued proxy access to 5 of 6 eligible care homes in Wantage

Being able to advise patients to use the NHS App also means we can support them or point them in the right direction when they have issues

When you have an app run by the National Health Service, with an active development team and public funding

You cannot go too wrong telling your patient to use the app.

When they call and say they cannot see their medical records, you know it is the surgery’s problem, not the NHS App team. 

Doing so will cut the back-and-forth, increase patient satisfaction, and leave the GP staff feeling empowered to have been of help.

Common NHS App requests and how to handle them

• getting access to patient’s medical record, issue online access and email linkage key
• patient forgetting their email or mobile number, signpost to the NHS App helpdesk
• citizen verified but cannot access GP services, reset linkage key

If you are a GP staff, you can keep on top of NHS App issues by joining the NHS App ambassador program here 

What value does the NHS app present to GP surgeries?

With most GPs moving from traditional appointments to a triage system,

the cost of messaging patients has increased

With some of our practices, using around 30,000 fragments (1 fragment is 160 characters or like 1 SMS page) messages per month

BOB ICB withdrew SMS funding for self-booking messages. 

With the NHS App being a free service, GPs can save the cost of 2.25p per sms sent

and include all required consultation information without feeling they are using too many fragments.

So, if a practice increases its NHS app uptake, it could benefit from:

• low cost of messaging
• increase patient safety – they know only to expect messages from the GP on the NHS App
• increasing patient satisfaction and reduce GP staff workload

Patients can now manage service for others, view their medical records, and request prescriptions without the 8 am rush

GP staff, on the other hand, can focus on increasing service quality instead of getting overwhelmed by the busyness of the GP surgery

Such as adopting good coding practices and ensuring no significant event occurs or is well managed during a patient visit at the surgery.

There are other safeguarding issues, like making sure only the right people are given proxy access

Or protecting those who are vulnerable or ensuring that those over 11 have a choice to manage or give access to their record

Care home proxy access enables care home staff to access residents’ GP services on time

Every week, a GP from the surgery gets an appointment to visit a resident of a care home who has a medical problem.

Any observation from such a visit is recorded in the resident’s patient profile in the GP system.

The Enhanced Health in Care Home (EHCH) framework expects healthcare providers and Care Home staff to communicate better to improve resident care.

To support better communication, some GP surgeries have an assigned admin staff member who enters each patient note and emails each consultation to the Care Homes.

If the GP saw seven patients, an admin staff would email these seven consultations to the care homes.

The problem with this method is that:

This model can quickly increase admin staff’s workload and become a barrier for many GPs to meet the EHCH expectation.

It is also a duplicated effort!

Couple with the risk of missing out on some consultations due to manual human error.

With proxy access

The care home staff sees the consultation in the resident’s medical note when the GP enters it.

Anyone responsible for their care, like Care Home staff who needs to order cream for a resident,

can see what cream they are on and quickly make such a request without phoning the GP.

Resulting in time-saving for the carer and improved care for the resident without adding workload for the GP.

Benefits of proxy access

This Firmley ICB document summarises the benefits of proxy access for repeat prescriptions well. 

But you can do more with proxy access

View consultations:

Fulfilling the EHCH is easier if GP practices give care homes access to view consultations.

This also gives them access to view allergies and medication, which can be limited to your desired period.

With this access, Care Home staff can view PRNs (medications that are used as needed, like the cream example used earlier)

Manage Appointments

It depends on what suits your current appointment model.

Providing pre-bookable appointment slots to only care home staff can be a way to manage your care home appointments.

Instead of emailing GPs with a list of residents due for a visit, the Care Home staff can book the appointment directly from the patient record in Patient Access

This will give both GP practice and Care Homes an audit trail of residents seen by the appointments.

It will also save GP time by having a different and often quicker pathway for Care Homes to access GP practice.

Save one working day with this proxy access hack

3 in 10 care home staff switch jobs every year

That means GP staff will dedicate one working day in a year to issue proxy access to an average size care home

But you should only spend such time when setting it up the first time.

To save this time, you should limit the number of care home staff who can use proxy access. 

The max we have done so far is six staff per care home. 

Once you have established this, you only need to replace any leaver with the new staff

To do this, edit the online proxy user details and replace them with the current staff details. 

Reset the user account details and guide the care home staff to set it up on patientaccess.com

This will take about 5 minutes of GP staff time as opposed to a full working day.

Deliver care home proxy access in your PCN with this template

Whether you are a DTL or Practice Manager, this NHS template is all you need

Download the NHS care home proxy access template