You can make an appointment there and then - rather than having to wait until the surgery opens in the morning

June 2004: Patients at Lime Tree Surgery make the most of EMIS Access

Almost 1,000 patients at Lime Tree Surgery, Worthing are already taking advantage of the new EMIS Access service, and the freedom it provides those with a busy lifestyle.

EMIS Access has proved to be a huge help for busy professional couple Carole and Brian Matthews from Findon in West Sussex.

Family life

The couple, who have three grown up daughters, recently registered to use the service at Lime Tree Surgery and have been making the most of the technology ever since.

Carole, who works for the Schools' Library Service, run by West Sussex Council, spends the majority of her working week out and about - and has precious little time to book doctor's appointments during standard working hours. Her husband, a Legal Executive, has a similarly busy schedule.

Carole explained: "It's very difficult to make an appointment on the telephone - because I'm pushed for time and the line is often so busy. I think this is a frustration shared by patients around the country.

"The new service means I can book a non-emergency appointment at my leisure. I can do it first thing in the morning before I go to work, or at any time in the evening. One of the great advantages I've found is that you can make an appointment there and then - rather than having to wait until the surgery opens in the morning - by which time you may have simply forgotten.

"We've already used EMIS Access four or five times since registering. My children are now grown up, but I can also imagine that the service would be a huge help to working mums with young children."

Lime Tree Surgery

Nearly 1,000 patients at Lime Tree Surgery have registered to use the service since its introduction - currently the highest total in the UK. EMIS Access is now available to 4,500 surgeries across England.

Sue Parton, Business Manager at Lime Tree Surgery said: "We have a very IT literate population, so that could explain why our patients have been so keen to use the new technology.

"It's a great system for patients - because it means they can book or cancel appointments online, at any time of the day or night. We're also expecting the system to save staff time, by reducing the number of phone calls we have to deal with."

Further information

EMIS Access is currently available to all practices using EMIS LV* and is available at no cost.

The EMIS Access screen can be accessed from the main page of your LV system (SC, EA). A number of options are available to enable you to configure and use the system.

EMIS LV help pages contain a section on EMIS Access to enable you to set up and start using the service. These pages can be found via 'Help' on the toolbar, and then selecting 'Contents & Index'.

*Please note that EMIS Access requires EMIS LV5.2 with Microsoft Word integration and an NHSnet connection.