Patient Access and Appointment Booking Research

Community pharmacy contractors, pharmacy teams and sector representatives are being encouraged to contribute to a new NHS England discovery project exploring the future of appointment booking, patient access and navigation across health services, including the potential role of digital tools such as the NHS App.

Following discussion at a recent Community Pharmacy IT Group (CP ITG) meeting, NHS England has commenced a discovery phase led by NHS England and supported by IBM. The project aims to gain a better understanding of how patients access healthcare services and how digital solutions can support improved navigation and appointment booking across the wider healthcare system.

As the work extends beyond community pharmacy, it is important that pharmacy perspectives are represented from the outset. The topics being explored closely align with several areas previously discussed by CP ITG, including interoperability, appointment booking, patient access, and integration between pharmacy systems and wider NHS services and platforms.

What is the discovery aiming to understand?

The research team is seeking insight into:

• User needs and expectations
• Current approaches and experiences
• Operational and technical considerations
• Opportunities for improvement
• Potential challenges and risks

Feedback gathered during this phase will help inform future thinking around patient access and digital healthcare navigation.

Who can get involved?

The discovery team is keen to hear from a broad range of stakeholders, including:

• Pharmacy owners and pharmacy teams
• Pharmacy organisations of all sizes and business models
• Individuals with relevant experience of appointment systems, booking platforms or patient access services

What might participation involve?

Those who choose to participate may be invited to take part in:

• Short interviews (typically 30 minutes or longer)
• Small group discussions
• Other research activities as the discovery progresses

A wider discussion with CP ITG may also be arranged later in the year. However, direct participation in interviews and research activities will play a vital role in helping the team understand practical experiences, opportunities and concerns from across the sector.

Engagement is expected to begin from early November, with research plans currently being finalised.

Use of Information

If you register your interest, your contact details may be shared with the NHS England discovery team, IBM and the Community Pharmacy England/CP ITG secretariat for the purposes of arranging participation opportunities and ensuring feedback is gathered from a broad cross-section of the sector.

Participation is entirely voluntary.

Interested in Taking Part?

Pharmacy professionals and organisations willing to contribute should email:

england.digitalcommunitypharmacy@nhs.net

using the subject line:

Patient Access Research

Please include:

• Your name
• Organisation name
• Pharmacy ODS code (where applicable)

Interested participants may also wish to notify da@cpe.org.uk that they have put themselves forward.

The research team is seeking views from across the community pharmacy sector and, should there be significant interest, participation may involve a selection process to ensure representation from a broad mix of pharmacy organisations and settings.

Please feel free to share this opportunity with colleagues and others within your organisation who may be interested in contributing to this important piece of research.