The disconnect between primary and secondary care is not a new issue but it seems to be one that is in a particularly bad place at the moment.
 
There are various reasons for this and it causes multiple problems. People heading straight to A&E as they can’t access their GP is well documented. We were interested to hear about other knock on effects of poor access to primary care. For instance, people not having follow up blood tests done because they are reluctant to wait 45 mins on hold to speak to their surgery.
 
If secondary care patients aren’t getting the community follow up they need, it has repercussions further down the line. Building on the above example, what if those patients who don’t get their latest bloods done are turning up to surgery with 6 month old test results – this doesn’t give an up to date picture of that patient.
 
What can you do?
 
Looking at how you can improve this interface in your particular area may have an impact on the success of the programmes you are running and ultimately benefit patients.
 
One consultant suggested even simple things like running joint secondary and primary care events can be really useful. Helping people to understand who their local colleagues are so they can pick up the phone and speak to the right person more easily.

Please get in touch to learn how Opus can support your business to engage with the NHS in 2023. We have the expertise, experience and creativity to find that unknown insight and translate it into a deliverable idea.

These insights are compiled from interviews conducted in December 2022 with a range of NHS healthcare professionals working in secondary and tertiary care (including nurses, consultants and pharmacists).

They will hopefully help to inform how people working in Pharma can engage with the NHS in 2023.