Investigating patient use and experience of online appointment booking
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating patient use and experience of online appointment booking in general practice
IRAS ID
258138
Contact name
Helen Atherton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Warwick
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
Many people find it difficult to make an appointment with their GP. Online appointment booking services offer a way to book an appointment 24/7 using the internet, via a website or app. The Government has been keen to encourage people to use online appointment booking and has even introduced a ‘NHS app’ which can be used for this purpose. However, not many patients currently use online appointment booking services and there has not been any research into why this might be. This study will look at which patients are aware of online appointment booking services in general practice, which patients use them, and what they think about them. We will 1) look at information from an existing national survey of patients, focusing on whether patients are aware of online booking services, what types of people are/are not using them, 2) Survey and interview patients to understand their awareness of online booking services, and their experiences of using or trying to use online booking via website or app. These patients will be identified from a wide range of GP practices, 3) Develop information sheets for policymakers, commissioners and GP practices to help them decide how best to deliver online appointment booking services.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0272
Date of REC Opinion
10 Oct 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion