CallEEAST Expands Support for GP Practices to Enhance Patient Access and Reduce System Pressure

Innovative Call Handling and Admin Support Providing Tangible Relief to Primary Care

CallEEAST has long played a supporting role in primary care across the East of England, assisting GP surgeries during closures for lunch breaks or staff training days. During these times, CallEEAST's trained team managed incoming calls, signposted patients effectively, and liaised with on-call GPs to ensure continuity of care.

However, earlier this year, a North London GP practice—serving a highly deprived population—approached CallEEAST with a more pressing issue: long call waits times and patients struggling to get through to the surgery. This scenario, unfortunately, is common across the UK, with many practices facing mounting demand and limited administrative capacity.

A Scalable Solution to a National Problem

In response, CallEEAST worked closely with the practice to create an innovative, scalable solution. By developing user-friendly online tools and digital triage forms, the practice enabled patients to request appointments or submit medical queries online. Additionally, calls that exceeded three minutes of wait time were automatically routed to CallEEAST’s team, who handled the patient query, signposted as appropriate, and even supported patients in completing online forms where needed.

Following the success of this model, CallEEAST has since onboarded eight GP surgeries in Norfolk, with more practices in discussions to join. The results have been clear: reduced call wait times, quicker patient resolutions, and improved satisfaction among patients and practice staff alike.

This model not only supports individual surgeries but also contributes to broader system-wide goals. There is growing evidence that improving timely access to GP services can help reduce unnecessary 999 calls and avoidable presentations at A&E departments. A study published by BMJ Open showed that 26.5% of A&E visits could be linked to patients who were unable to access their GP (PMCID: PMC4073729). Other NHS pilot schemes have shown up to a 10% reduction in A&E attendances when extended GP access is made available (PubMed ID: 27395472).

Looking Ahead: Integration with SystmOne and Virtual Receptionists

Building on this momentum, CallEEAST is now in the process of integrating with SystmOne, one of the UK’s most widely used clinical systems. This next phase will support practices with background administrative tasks, increase operational efficiencies, and offer a fully integrated virtual receptionist model.

The virtual receptionist function will provide real-time administrative support, form completion, triage documentation, and appointment processing—streamlining back-end workflows while maintaining high standards of patient communication.

CallEEAST’s expanded service offering is designed to help GP practices achieve the following:

• Reduce the ‘8am bottleneck’ by managing high call volumes during peak periods.
• Improve patient experience through shorter wait times and consistent, professional call handling.
• Realise cost efficiencies through economies of scale and reduced recruitment costs.
• Address workforce pressures, particularly high turnover among receptionist staff.
• Support the NHS Urgent and Emergency Care Strategy by improving access and reducing pressure on 999 and A&E services.
• Promote best practice across surgeries by implementing consistent, effective communication processes.
• Enhance equity in access to healthcare, especially in underserved or deprived areas.
• Work collaboratively with NHS partners to offer responsive, innovative care solutions.

The feedback from early adopters has been overwhelmingly positive. Natasha, Business Manager at NHP, shared:

“Working with CallEEAST is a great experience. Their online form filling and query direction for our patients is spot on—clear, straightforward, and efficient. Every call is answered seamlessly, with a professional and friendly approach. The team shows strong understanding and in-depth knowledge and responds to every question from our patient cohort. From the initial enquiry through to going live and beyond, CallEEAST supports us every step of the way. I highly recommend CallEEAST to any GP practice that needs that extra help. Their service is reliable, responsive, and makes a real difference.”