Dear Patients,

We wish to share some very exciting news about a significant change to our appointment system that will improve the way our surgery delivers care to all our patients.  Many of you have told us that getting this care can be challenging, particularly when phone lines are busy or appointments are quickly filled. 
To help address these issues, we’re introducing a new approach called Total Triage — a 
system that is already being successfully used in many GP practices across the country. 
From the 1st October 2025, we are moving to a Total Triage model.

What is Total Triage?

Total triage is a General Practice workflow where every patient contacting a practice first 
provides some information on the reasons for contact and is triaged before making an 
appointment. 

All patient requests will be triaged by one of our experienced GPs who will decide what 
the best course of action is. Where necessary, we might ask you to answer a few 
additional questions to help our doctor prioritise those patients who need more urgent 
care. 

You could be given a face to face or telephone appointment, you could have a reply from 
the GP with self-care advice or you could be signposted to a more appropriate service. 

We will have three types of appointments: 

• Same day – for urgent problems (A member of staff will contact you to book the 
appointment) 
• Within 7 days – for patients that need to see or speak to a healthcare 
professional soon, but not urgently (A member of staff will contact you to book the 
appointment) 
• More than 7 days – for routine appointments (A member of staff will contact you to book the 
appointment) 

The main purpose of the Total Triage model is to: 

• enhance the quality of care our patients receive  
• ensure they are given the most appropriate appointment or advice to meet 
their needs 
• communicate with patients in a timely way 

How does it work?

All patients need to submit their request via the surgery’s website by filling the ‘eConsult’ form.

Ideally, patients will submit their own request however we appreciate that this may not 
be possible for some patients. If you are unable to use or access the online form then 
please contact the surgery in the usual way and we will complete the request for you, 
which will then be reviewed by the GP.

If you require an appointment for a child under 6 months old, please contact the practice on 01204 284822

After the GP reviews your request, you will either receive a call to be offered a suitable 
appointment, or you might receive a message with advice from the GP.

Please note, that in order for the GP to triage your request in a timely manner it is very 
important to provide detailed and accurate information about your symptoms.

For example, if a patient has a cough, it would be much easier for the GP to triage the 
request with the following information: ‘I had a cough for 10 days. I have already used 
over the counter medicine, but it is not helping and in the last couple of days my cough 
has been worsening and it feels more chesty. I also have a high temperature.’

If the information given is less detailed, such as ‘I had a cough for 10 days’, it makes it 
harder for the GP to triage and we will need more information.

The Total Triage service will be open Monday to Friday, 8am-6.30pm. During the 
weekend or bank holidays please continue to use the 111 service or call 999 for life 
threatening emergencies. 

How does this benefit you? 

We know that change can be difficult sometimes, but we are confident that Total Triage 
will bring many benefits to our patients – for example: 

• Total Triage has been shown to reduce waiting times and it enables us to 
attend to your medical needs more promptly. 
• Using digital communication will mean that you can engage with us from the 
comfort of your home or workplace. 
• Triage ensures that limited healthcare resources are allocated to patients 
who need them most urgently. 
• Total Triage will address the increasing demand for appointments and reduce 
the frustration of having to call and be in a long queue at 8am.

If you have any questions or concerns our team is here to guide and support you. 

Thank you for supporting us with this new project. 

Sincerely, 
Bolton Community Practice

The latest patient newsletter is now available, click the link below to view:

https://www.boltoncommunitypractice.nhs.uk/_common/getdocument/330988 

Dear Patients,

On Tuesday 25^th June, the practice will be using a new provider for our online consultation service.  This means that we will no longer be using ‘Online Consult’, the new online consultation service is called eConsult.

What this means for you

This change means that there will be a new link to use for completing online forms at Bolton Community Practice. This can be found on the homepage of our practice website.

The previous link for Online Consult will no longer work, please delete this.

New Link: https://boltoncommunitypractice.webgp.com/

Our online consultation service will still be available until 1pm each day. However, during the first week of this change, the service will open at 8am each day (Previously 6am).

Thank you for your cooperation 

We understand that some of our patients may have been unable to view certain documents (e.g. letters from the hospital) when using online services due to a software problem. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. We are pleased to inform you that this issue has been resolved; any new documents added to your electronic GP health records will be visible and it may take up to a month for older, affected documents to become visible.  

Your GP team will have been able to access the letters, so your care will not have been affected during this time. 

Measles cases are continuing to rise across England, with a number of unvaccinated children and adults requiring hospital as infections take hold. 

This month, millions of parents and carers in England are being contacted by the NHS to book their children in for their missed measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine as part of a major new campaign to protect children from becoming seriously unwell.

NHS figures show almost 3 million children under the age of 16 years are either unprotected or not fully protected and at risk of catching these serious and completely preventable diseases.

Measles is not just a childhood disease and can be serious at any age. If caught during pregnancy it can be very serious causing stillbirth, miscarriage and low birth weight and NHS bosses are also urging young adults to catch up on any missed doses before thinking about starting a family.

Two doses of the safe and effective MMR vaccine are needed for maximum life-long protection, with the first dose given around the child’s first birthday, and the second dose given at around three years and four months old.

However, anyone can catch up at any age on any missed doses and it’s never too late to protect yourself.

If you or your child have not had both dose of the MMR vaccine contact the GP surgery to book an appointment as soon as possible and catch up.

Our new patient newsletter is now available!

Click below to view:

Patient Newsletter December 2023

  New: Deaf Accessible Fitness in Bolton

Next Programme: Horwich Leisure Centre, BL65PY, Starting 24th August 2023: 11am - 12pm.

To Join the waiting list, email admin@boltondeafsociety.co.uk, with your name, phone number and address.

• Gym staff are trained in deaf awareness and basic British Sign Language.
• Making fitness accessible for Deaf people with a signing personal trainer.
• 6 week programmes available at different locations.

BOOK YOUR PLACE, LIMITED SPACES

Dear Patients,

From Saturday 1^st October our opening hours will change at our Astley-Dale Branch, Waters Meeting Health Centre.

Please see updated opening hours below:

Monday: 8AM-6.30PM

Tuesday: 8AM-6.30PM

Wednesday: 8AM-8PM (Phone lines open 8am-6.30pm)

Thursday: 8AM-6.30PM

Friday: 8AM-6.30PM

Saturday: 9AM-5PM (Phone lines open 9am-1pm)

If you have an appointment on a Saturday after 1pm and you need to cancel please telephone 01204 463133 and leave a voicemail message advising us that you wish to cancel and your name, date of birth and appointment time.

Many Thanks,

Bolton Community Practice

The Opening Hours for our 'Online Consult' service are as follows:

Mondays: 6am - 12pm

Tuesdays:  6am - 12pm

Wednesdays:  6am - 12pm

Thursdays:  6am - 12pm

Fridays:  6am - 12pm

Saturdays: Offline

Sundays: Offline

Many families and individuals, find themselves in a situation where they are not able to access sufficient or adequate food through no fault of their own.  

Food poverty is complex with multiple factors, this can affect anyone during a period of their life when their home circumstances change rapidly. 

The impacts of not receiving a healthy balanced diet could include heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other diet related health conditions. Food poverty can also affect a child's learning ability, it could lead to poor physical health and motor skills making it harder for children to concentrate at school. 

Food banks have been created to give people a step up when needed. They collect food through partnership working and distribute to people facing economic hardship. 

If anyone is wanting to donate any unwanted food or toiletry items, please contact The Cresent Foodbank, Urban Outreach, look for a collection bin in your local supermarket or contact the surgery direct.

If you feel like you are in a position where you are not able to purchase food, please contact the surgery in confidence, advise could be given or an agency referral can be completed. 

Please do not contact the surgery enquiring about COVID vaccination certification as we are unable to issue this information from the practice.

Free NHS App: Your vaccination status is available on the free NHS App which can be downloaded to your smartphone or tablet, either from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Proof of your Covid vaccination status will be shown in the NHS App. Open the App and select ‘Check your Covid-19 vaccine record’ then logout. We recommend that you register with the NHS App before booking international travel. To register you will need your NHS patient number. This can be found on your prescription or any letter from the NHS. Please note: This App is not the same as the NHS COVID-19 App.

NHS Website: You can view your COVID-19 vaccination status online and download or print it as a PDF document. You will need to register for an NHS login if you do not have one already, to access the service. NHS login registrations may take longer than usual when there are high numbers of requests.

By calling 119: If you do not have access to a smartphone, computer or tablet and know that the country you are travelling to requires COVID-19 vaccination status, you can call 119 and ask for a letter to be posted to you.