The Armada Family Practice 2014-09-01 Person 3 5 0

The new "turn up and wait system" has to be a step forward. The reason is because it is bound to reduce what has been a worsening state of access to doctors by occasionally ill patients. It was becoming obvious that an increasing number of patients (presumably chronically ill/serial malingerers) were blocking/delaying access to doctors using whatever tactics they were employing to take up all available appointments for up to an entire month (and then frequently not showing up). Essentially, this was putting patients with sudden/serious illness in a potentially risky position by deterring them from seeking timely first line medical help. The new system prevents appointment blocking because it forces those patients mentioned above, to now "turn up or shut up". This should have the effect of filtering out malingerers/chronic condition patients/no-showers resulting in a more streamlined and responsive service for those who might be genuinely ill. My only surprise is that it took the Armada practice so long to realise and implement this when there is plenty of evidence from other local practices showing this to be the most efficient and effective system.