EMIS pilots GP booking through digital TV

EMIS has joined up with a South Yorkshire local government digital TV portal to allow patients to book GP appointments through interactive TV.

Patients of two GP surgeries in Barnsley can access the booking service, which links up with EMIS Access, through the local government information channel e@sy Connects TV, beamed to around 10,000 households in the county.

The new digital TV appointment booking service comes in addition to the online appointment service launched by EMIS in July 2004, through EMIS Access.

Dr David Stables, clinical director of EMIS, said that digital TV will open up EMIS's electronic booking service to new groups of people: "The internet version of this service is now available to millions of patients across the country – and is proving very popular among patients and GPs alike. Extending the service to digital TV will open up the technology to even more users."

The system, which has been in use since the end of September, is being piloted at Ashville Medical Centre and the Kakoty Practice on Sheffield Road, Barnsley. Patients register at the surgery to receive a PIN, which they use to access the service.

Denise Worstenholme, a patient at Ashville Medical Centre, spoke to E-Health Insider about her experience using the online appointment booking service: "I booked an appointment at a time of my choice online.  It was very quick and I got an email to confirm my appointment.  If I needed to I could have changed it online as well."

Mrs Worstenholme described the service as quick and convenient, and one that saved her having to go to her having to attempt to get through to her practice by phone or pop down just to make an appointment. "As a working person using this system is much easier and you can make the appointment from the comfort of your own home."

The interface differs from the original internet-based booking system in that it's necessarily more basic; there is no facility to send messages to the doctor with the booking as this would be impossible over a numeric keypad. However, patients do have the choice of booking appointments, or changing or cancelling appointments previously made by TV.

Mrs Worstenholme said that while she had tried the digital TV booking system attempting to use the remote control to enter information was a bit fiddly, "But I can see the potential for people who have trouble leaving home or don't have a computer."

A spokesperson for EMIS said that extending the system to digital TV made the existing service "certainly more accessible" for those who were more at ease using a TV than a computer.

EMIS hope to roll the system out throughout the county at the end of the trial, and to other local government interactive TV network as they come online.

According to Mrs Worstenholme the introduction of new systems such as online appointment systems is an indication that the NHS is modernising.  "It wouldn't have been something you'd have thought of five or six years ago.  For such a long time it's felt like the NHS has stood still."