Surgery Connect Patient Facing Resources

Our resources are easy to access, download, or print, making it simple to promote your new Surgery Connect phone system to your patients. Please review the content to ensure it aligns with your intended message, the features you have configured and maintains the tone of voice you wish to convey.

Page Contents

Poster

New Phone System Poster A4 Download ↓

Introductory information that can be published in your surgery newsletter or in the ‘News’ section of your website containing more detail for your patients to read.

Suggested Newsletter and Website Information

Exciting Changes to Our Phone System – Improving Your Experience!

From [date] we are introducing a new and improved phone system to make it easier for you to contact us and get the care you need, when you need it. These changes are designed to improve your experience and help us manage calls and requests more efficiently.

What’s Changing?

With our new system, you’ll benefit from:

✅ Patient Callback – No more waiting on hold! You can request a callback, and we’ll return your call as soon as you reach the front of the queue.

✅ Clearer Menu Options – Our updated menu will guide you to the right team faster – or better still, to resources that can help you without the need to speak to us – whether you need an appointment, a prescription request, test results, or general advice.

✅ SMS Notifications & Signposting – Receive text messages with updates, appointment confirmations, and links to useful health services. This will help direct you to the most appropriate care option, whether it’s a self-care resource, pharmacy, or Healthcare Professional.

✅ Video Calling – For certain consultations, we can now offer video appointments, allowing you to speak with a Healthcare Professional from the comfort of your home.

✅ Check and Cancel – You can now check and/or cancel your appointments more easily through our phone system, helping free up slots for others and reduce waiting times.

What This Means for You

Faster and easier access to the right care and support
Reduced waiting times on the phone
More flexibility with callbacks and video consultations
Clearer information about services and appointments

We appreciate your patience as we implement these improvements and welcome any feedback on your experience with the new system.

Thank you for being a valued patient at [Practice Name].

We have pre and post-launch examples of text and images that you can use to promote the new service to your patients.

Suggested Pre-Launch Social Media Template

Pre-Launch

We’re upgrading our phone system to improve your experience!

From [date], getting in touch with us will be easier than ever. Our new system includes:

✅ Patient Callback – No more long waits on hold! Request a callback when you reach position one in the queue.
✅Clearer Menu Options – Get to the right team faster
✅SMS Notifications – Receive appointment confirmations and helpful service links
✅Video Calling – Access care from the comfort of your home
✅Check and Cancel appointments – Manage your existing appointments more easily

We can’t wait for you to experience the benefits! Stay tuned for updates.

Suggested Post-Launch Social Media Template

Post-Launch

Great news! Our new phone system is up and running!

We’ve made it easier for you to contact us and manage your care with features like:

✅ Patient Callback – Avoid waiting on hold.
✅Clearer Menu Options – Get straight to the right team
✅SMS Notifications – Receive appointment confirmations & useful health links
✅ Video Consultations – Speak with a Healthcare Professional from home.
✅ Check and Cancel Appointments – Manage your existing appointments more easily.

We hope you love the new features as much as we do.

Pre-Launch Social (2938×2463)Download ↓

Post-Launch Social (2938×2463)Download ↓

Digital Display Templates

We have pre and post-launch examples of resources that you can display in reception and waiting room areas to promote the new service to your patients.

Patient Facing Comms Surgery Connect TV Download ↓

Email Templates

Example wording that can be used in an email to help you explain the new phone system to your patients.

Suggested Pre-Launch Email Template

Pre-Launch

Subject: Big Changes Coming Soon – Easier ways to contact us!

Dear [Patient’s Name],

We’re making it easier for you to contact the surgery. From [Launch date], we’ll be introducing a new and improved phone system designed to enhance your experience when calling us.

What’s Changing?

✅ Patient Callback – No more long waits on hold! Request a callback, and we’ll return your call as soon as you reach the front of the queue.
✅ Clearer Menu Options – Navigate our system more easily to reach the right team faster – or better still, to resources that can help you without the need to speak to us.
✅ SMS Notifications – Receive appointment confirmations and links to useful health services.
✅ Video Consultations – For certain consultations, we can now offer video appointments, allowing you to speak with a Healthcare Professional from the comfort of your home.
✅ Check and Cancel – Manage your existing appointments more easily with self-serve options.

Stay tuned for more details!

[Your GP Surgery Name]

Post-Launch

Subject: Our New Phone System is Now Live!

Dear [Patient’s Name],

We’re excited to share that our new phone system is now live! You can now enjoy faster, easier ways to get in touch with us and manage your care.

What’s New?

✅ Patient Callback – Avoid waiting on hold by requesting a callback, and we’ll return your call as soon as you reach the front of the queue.
✅ Clearer Menu Options – Quickly reach the right team for your needs.
✅ SMS Notifications – Get appointment confirmations and links to useful health services.
✅ Video Consultations – Speak with a Healthcare Professional from the comfort of your home.
✅ Check and Cancel – Easily manage your existing appointments through the phone system

To use the service, simply call the surgery, follow the voice prompts, and enter your date of birth when prompted. If needed, you can cancel with a key press and receive an SMS confirmation.

We hope you find the new phone system beneficial.

[Your GP Surgery Name]

SMS Templates

Example SMS messages you could send to your patients to help explain to your patients about the new phone system.

Suggested Pre-Launch SMS Template

Pre-Launch

From [date], we’re changing our phone system to improve your experience! Expect features like callback options, clearer menu choices, SMS notifications, video consultations & easier appointment management.

Post-Launch

Our new phone system is now live! You can now request callbacks, access clearer menu options, receive SMS notifications, use video consultations and manage existing appointments more easily.

Callout Name and Example	Callout Description
Info:	Used to highlight specific aspects of a feature that were previously mentioned, or to clarify less obvious feature applications.
Funding / PCARP / NHS:	Calls out the direct benefits of Surgery Connect features and how they can help you meet the NHS Delivery Plan for Recovering Access to Primary Care requirements and ultimately, the associated funding.
Definitions:	When clicked, provides a glossary of terms and their definitions within a popout table.
Help:	Links to external Help Centre pages related to the content of a lesson, providing further learning resources.

Report Column Name	Explanation
Hour/Day	The report can be by hour, or by day
Calls When Patient Callback Active	Patient Callback only becomes active when your parameters are met - this tells you how many calls you received overall when those parameters were met
Calls Handled by Patient Callback	Patient Callbacks requested (in that hour/day)
Callbacks Made	Patient Callbacks made (in that hour/day)
Callbacks Accepted	Successful callbacks (in that hour/day)
Callbacks Rejected	Callback rejected
Callback Attempts Exceeded	Calllback where the attempts were exceeded - not answered
Queue Timeout	Where any max queue duration settings are met
Callback Reset	Callback cancelled due to closure times
Caller Rang Back In	Caller rang back in before callback attempted
Caller Rang Back in - Rejoined Queue	Caller rang back in before callback attempted and re-joined the queue
Caller Rang Back in - Hung Up	Caller rang back in before callback attempted and hung up (stayed in callback queue)
Caller Rang Back in - Cancelled	Caller rang back in before callback attempted and cancelled the callback request
Total time in virtual queue	Total time all calls in that hour/day were in the virtual queue
Avg time in virtual queue	Average time each call in that hour/day was in the virtual queue
Total Time in real queue	If someone rings back in and rejoins the “real” queue this would be reflected here.
Avg time in real queue	If someone rings back in and rejoins the “real” queue this would be reflected here.

Inbound call	An inbound call is a call made into the surgery on one of your inbound telephone numbers
Outbound call	An outbound call is a call made from the surgery’s service (external calls only)
Queued call	A queued call are those that joined a Group queue and started the queueing process to speak to one of your staff
Missed call	Missed calls are calls that could have been answered by a staff member because it either targeted a user directly or joined a queue for a distribution group. A call does not have to make it to the front of a queue to count as missed, it purely has to join the queue
Abandoned call	Abandoned calls are calls that your staff had no chance of answering as they either did not target a user directly or did not enter a queue for a group of users. Situations where this could be the case are when the caller rings in whilst the practice is closed, or the caller does not respond to a menu and hangs up before making a choice
CLI	The CLI is the number displayed in the call ID to the recipient of that call This may be withheld or a telephone number. It also relates to the callers number when they ring into the Surgery Connect service.
Average call duration	This is an average length of a call - Active time on an answered call - this does not include any queue time
Total call duration	This is the actual length of a call including all of the call flow, queueing, talk or hold time that may have occurred
Maximum call concurrency	This is how many individual calls are happening at the same time

Queued for group	The total number of calls that queued for that group
Answered from queue	The number of calls in the queue that were answered
% answered from queue	The percentage of calls answered from the queue
Missed from queue	This is the total number of calls that joined the queue but did not get answered
% missed from queue	The percentage of calls missed from the queue
Missed from queue under 10 seconds	These are the calls that joined the queue but the caller hung up before 10 seconds of queueing had occurred. These may not want to be considered when assessing call answering efficiency as there was little chance of your staff answering these calls due to the caller hanging up so quickly
Queue duration	The length of time the caller spent in the queue

Calls when patient callback active	This is the total number of inbound calls whilst patient callback was offered
Calls handled by patient callback	This is the number of calls that chose the patient callback option
Callbacks made	This is the number of callback calls made
Callbacks accepted	This is the number of callback calls that were answered and accepted by the patients
Callbacks rejected	This is the number of callback calls that were unanswered or cancelled by the patients
Queue timeout	This is where a maximum queue time has been set on the service and the time in that queue is reached
Caller rang back in	This is where a caller has selected a callback but has rung in and rejoined the queue before they have received a callback from the surgery
Caller rang back in - rejoined queue	This where a caller has selected a callback but has rung in and rejoined the queue before they have received a callback from the surgery
Caller rang back in - hung up	This is where a caller has called in again and hung up
Caller rang back in - cancelled	This is where a caller has a callback booked but has rung in and cancelled that callback when given the option
Time in virtual queue	This is the amount of time the callers would have spent in the queue if they had not selected a callback