With those lines from the terraces of Murrayfield ringing in our English ears, it’s a night to celebrate north of the border. And there’s more to celebrate for a handful of Scotland’s GPs.
Why are patients flocking to register at Newarthill Medical Practice in North Lanarkshire?
Very simple, the access is brilliant. Where neighbouring practices are making patients wait three weeks, Dr Ashish Vijayan can sort them out the same day.
You know what I’m going to say next, but there’s a surprise to come. Yes, he launched askmyGP as a whole system just three months ago and loves it, along with his patients evidently.
The secret is to have time for the patients who need it, just the right time for the right patients.
If you’ve followed this blog for long you’ll know that’s only about one in three, while the others still need help, but it can by remotely and much faster by phone, and now faster yet by secure message.
When Ashish first got in touch in the autumn he was swamped, not knowing what to do with his high demand population, many quite deprived in the ex-mining and steel area. (you might have seen that North Lanarks is the only place in Britain to offer free school meals at weekends).
But they’ve really gone for it, with a fantastic reception team helping patients to go online, and if they can’t putting them on the system too for the doctor.
They are doing 170 online requests every week, the vast majority of all their demand. It’s the most unlikely place to be leading the digital revulution in general practice.
While this week’s BMA News is a cover to cover Moanathon, Ashish is positively bursting with optimism.
The surprise: he’s a single hander, and from 2,900 patients in December, he’s gained nearly 200 since then.
So that’s 50% more than the average fte GP list. Think about the national shortage of GPs, then think again.
Harry Longman