PLTS Unit 304
Unit 304
Participating through team leading
Within the dental practice I am going to change the current external referral process for patients. The patient referral process is for the necessary referring of patients to the local PCT for dental work that may be too complex for the GDP or for patients that are too afraid to accept dental treatment within the general dental surgery and require a form of sedation.
Currently the referral process requires that the GDP writes all the necessary details, Including patients personal details and the treatment they require on the relevant form provided by the PCT and any relevant radiographs are included. Once the form is fully completed it is then posted to the local PCT who will triage the referral to the appropriate department. I feel this process is currently very time consuming, costly to the practice with postage charges, referrals run the risk of getting lost in the post and once any radiographs are sent with a referral the dental practice no longer has a copy.
I am going to change the referral process so that all referrals will be sent online via a secure software program provided by the PCT, this will also allow all radiographs to be scanned onto the computer and sent with the online referral ensuring that the Dental practice always retains the original radiograph. I feel that this will be beneficial to the dental practice as it will be less time consuming the GDP, will ensure that no referrals are lost in the post and ensures a copy of any radiographs are retained in practice. It will also be more efficient for the patient as once a referral is sent online it is received immediately by the triage centre and patients will receive an appointment in a matter of weeks rather than months.
I will trial this new referral system for one month, after which I will gather feedback from colleagues regarding their experience with the system and find out their opinion. I will also look at how the system could be
Participating through team leading
Within the dental practice I am going to change the current external referral process for patients. The patient referral process is for the necessary referring of patients to the local PCT for dental work that may be too complex for the GDP or for patients that are too afraid to accept dental treatment within the general dental surgery and require a form of sedation.
Currently the referral process requires that the GDP writes all the necessary details, Including patients personal details and the treatment they require on the relevant form provided by the PCT and any relevant radiographs are included. Once the form is fully completed it is then posted to the local PCT who will triage the referral to the appropriate department. I feel this process is currently very time consuming, costly to the practice with postage charges, referrals run the risk of getting lost in the post and once any radiographs are sent with a referral the dental practice no longer has a copy.
I am going to change the referral process so that all referrals will be sent online via a secure software program provided by the PCT, this will also allow all radiographs to be scanned onto the computer and sent with the online referral ensuring that the Dental practice always retains the original radiograph. I feel that this will be beneficial to the dental practice as it will be less time consuming the GDP, will ensure that no referrals are lost in the post and ensures a copy of any radiographs are retained in practice. It will also be more efficient for the patient as once a referral is sent online it is received immediately by the triage centre and patients will receive an appointment in a matter of weeks rather than months.
I will trial this new referral system for one month, after which I will gather feedback from colleagues regarding their experience with the system and find out their opinion. I will also look at how the system could be