When Consultant Connect first started providing rapid Telephone Advice & Guidance (A&G) to the NHS it was just GPs that used the service to speak to specialists. We are now providing access to a wider range of medics and community healthcare providers such as; Paramedics, Nurses, Pharmacists, Nurse Prescribers, Mental Health Clinicians, and Social Workers. Why? Telephone Advice & Guidance from Consultant Connect solves the difficulty of speaking to the right person when timely advice is really needed – especially if a patient’s needs are complex.
- Used in over 80 NHS areas covering over 29 million patients.
- 66% of calls avoid hospital visits in Elective Care, 30-40% of calls avoid hospital visits in Urgent Care.
- Easy to set-up and use with benefits from day one – no hardware or training required.
- Reduces referrals and admissions for whole-system efficiencies – patients receive the right care, first time.
- Enjoy world-class support – our team handles set-up, communication and on-going engagement with clinicians, specialists and other stakeholders.
Why do clinicians and patients like it?
Why do commissioners like it?
Find out how our Mental Health Phone Advice & Guidance service can help support the right mental health referrals at the right time.
- Easy to set-up & use with benefits from day one – no hardware or training required.
- Reduces referrals & admissions for whole-system efficiencies – patients receive the right care first time. Unnecessary, time-consuming, and costly referrals are avoided.
- Enjoy world-class support – technology is useless if not used. Our team handles set-up, communication and on-going engagement with GPs, specialists and other stakeholders.
Why is it so helpful for GPs and their patients?
Staffing Advice & Guidance lines a challenge? Find out about our National Network.
Find out how our Mental Health Phone Advice & Guidance service can help support the right mental health referrals at the right time.
How it works
Everything you need to know – in a few minutes…
Specialists explain how immediate phone advice helps patients
Clinicians explain why immediate phone advice works for them
Phone A&G in action – Elective Care
Phone A&G in action – Urgent Care
Consultant Connect in NHSE handbooks
Did you know Consultant Connect has been included in the NHS England’s Elective Care Transformation Team handbooks for gastro, dermatology and diabetes handbooks? Proof that Advice & Guidance works!
Phone Advice & Guidance Case Studies
GP case study: Acute Medical Admissions
Dr Holden had a visit from a patient with end-stage heart failure. The patient was adamant that he did not want to go into hospital, for fear of dying there.
GP case study: Trauma & Orthopaedics
Dr Richard Wright has been a GP for 25 years and currently works at Caterham Valley Medical Practice, in NHS Surrey Heartlands CCG.
5 minutes with a GP in Wales
Eight months after Consultant Connect Telephone Advice & Guidance was made available to his practice, Dr Griffin talks to us about what he thinks of the service and how using Consultant Connect has improved patient care.
GP case study: Elderly Care
Dr Angharad Triggs, is a GP at Penylan Surgery in Cardiff, where clinicians have had access to Telephone Advice & Guidance provided by Consultant Connect since June 2020.
What our customers say:
Contact us
For more information about how we work with commissioners, hospitals & mental health trusts to improve patient care, please get in touch.
Join a webinar
Listen to health experts from the comfort of your desk as we bring the experts to you in our series of online webinars.
Join our mailing list
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you informed of our latest blogs, project news, and upcoming webinar dates and topics.
Contact us
You can view our Terms & Conditions here.
Most Read Articles
FAQs - Referral Backlog Triage for the NHS
We are now triaging waiting lists for Trusts with backlogs of referrals that have built up due to COVID-19. The service uses our National Consultant Network (NCN). It’s the same network we launched 2 years ago which currently supports more than 50 NHS trusts with their capacity to deliver Advice & Guidance. In this article we share answers to the questions we’ve been asked the most since we launched this service.
SE London Enhanced A&G project "comes into its own" during COVID-19
What's the impact, one year on, of using Consultant Connect with e-RS for South East London CCGs? In this article, we take a look at how our project in South East London CCG has expanded since we first wrote about it on this blog this time last year. Plus David Reith, Associated Director for Planned Care Improvement at South East London CCG shares his feedback...
In Practice: quick ways to respond to COVID-19
With wave 2 upon us we share examples of how we are using IG secure tech to help NHS areas with their response. Some approaches can be rolled out in as little as 72 hours meaning they will make an impact this winter.
Avoiding Hospital for the Elderly this Winter
The coronavirus has had a disproportionate impact on older people, most deaths in the UK occur in the over-65s, affecting more men than women. But even before the pandemic, whilst life expectancy has increased, healthy life expectancy has not. In this blog article, we discuss the challenges in the current COVID-19 pandemic and how Consultant Connect is being used across the UK.
NHS Area Case Study: Enfield - project update & expansion plans
Six months ago, Consultant Connect launched in Enfield, NHS North Central London CCG to support key services during the COVID-19 pandemic. We caught up with Senior Programme Manager, Stephen Wells from Enfield Borough Directorate to discuss how the project has been performing since launch...
Supporting your health care teams with rapid Advice & Guidance
Consultant Connect is simply a smart communications tool which can be configured in many ways to improve communications between any health care professionals. In this article we highlight examples of other ways we are already working with NHS areas to provide rapid and reliable communication.