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Lantum Remote Consultations

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Kirsty
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Requirements

Training and induction 

Additional FAQs

GPintheCloud and Apple Macs

 

Overview

Lantum are working with your CCG to deliver remote consultations to patients who have submitted an online consultation form to their GP practice. As a digital GP locum, you will use your knowledge and experience to liaise with the patient through a variety of technologies, including video consultation, telephone, SMS and email.  

As a digital GP locum, you will receive a list of pre-triaged online consultations that have been deemed appropriate to consult remotely. You will then review the consultation PDF and respond to the patient in the most clinically appropriate way. 

The practice will provide a detailed information pack which includes local services to enable you to refer patients to other services where required. 

At the practice, there will be a lead clinician available if you need them as well as an administrative point of contact for any clinical queries during the session. The digital GP locum will have access to all clinical systems they would have in a physical session, allowing them to prescribe remotely and triage to local services.

For any technical issues that arise before or during the session, there is a dedicated IT helpdesk: 01752 398547. The desk is manned 07:30-19:00 M-F (closed weekends and bank holidays).

These sessions are pensionable under the NHS pension scheme. This can be contributed to if a clinician uses a Sole Trader account. (LTD company accounts are not eligible - see our Locum Pension Guide for further information).

 

Requirements

The requirements to work tele-consultations include:

  • Approval on the Lantum platform which requires an enhanced DBS, CV and Passport.
  • Must be based within the UK at the time of the consultations being held (you must be on the Performers List for England)
  • Experience using EMIS or SystemOne.
  • NHS email address is required.
  • A laptop or desktop computer with MacOS 10.10 or later or Windows 10/11 – For the best user experience, we suggest using your personal laptop, however if you do not own a personal laptop, we can accommodate the use of an NHS laptop.
  • An external plug in smartcard reader (if using an NHS laptop you will still require an external smartcard reader or a virtual smartcard for this technology). You can buy any of the readers on this page.
  • Stable Wi-Fi connection (connection speed minimum 200-300Kbps which can be checked here https://www.speedtest.net/).
  • A quiet, private space to consult in where you won’t be overheard or overlooked.
  • A functioning mobile phone number, which must be added correctly onto Lantum when you sign up. You can edit your phone number by going to My Account/ Payment Details/ Edit Payment Details.

Medical Indemnity: All locum GPs are covered under the Clinical Negligence Scheme for General practice for NHS work provided you are on the performers list. However, it is recommended that GPs continue to maintain their own indemnity to ensure you have the most comprehensive cover in place for any of the limitations with the state-backed scheme. Feel free to read more here.

All clinicians who wish to apply to the NHS remote consultations must ensure they have all of the above or the clinician will not be eligible for remote digital locum posts, the CCG will not contribute.

 

Training and induction 

NHS remote consultations are available to book from the Find Work page, similarly to Face-to-Face sessions on the platform. It is important to clearly read the session details to understand the nature of the work.

The process is outlined below:

  1. Clinicians apply for available sessions.
  2. The session is accepted by the Practice Manager.
  3. You will be contacted via email in advance of the session with instructions on how to setup and use our virtual desktop called ‘GPinthe Cloud’ This virtual desktop contains all the software you will need to run a remote consultation including with EMIS and SystemOne. The email will come from helpdesk@integy.co.uk and may occasionally get dropped into your spam or junk folder. Please check! If you have not been contacted by 48 hours before the session start time, please send a message to the practice via the Lantum platform.
  4. It is advised that as soon as you receive your remote locum system log on that you check this works, and you can access all required systems. 
  5. Prior to the first session at a new practice, the practice will invite you to an induction to ensure all technical requirements have been met, and discuss expectations for the sessions as well as local services. This will be a short call held on at least the day before the session starts. It is also recommended that the locum tests their IT and their access to GPitC and the practice clinical systems about 10 minutes before the session commences so they have time to notify the practice or Delt should there be any issues. The practice will also share with you a locum pack document to help you during your sessions which will contain information such as what to do with referrals, escalation points and general information
  6. Clinicians conduct the session from the session list provided by the practice, which will be held within the practice clinical system. Average consultations you should expect to review in a 4-hour session are 18, however, depending on what has been submitted by patients, this number could be more or less. 
  7. At the end of the session the clinician will undertake a wash-up meeting with the practice providing constructive feedback both positive and negative to enable snagging and service improvement.
  8. After a session has been completed, remote clinician’s access to the practice clinical systems will be deactivated. 

Before consulting on the platform you must look professional and presentable, well dressed and assuming the same status that you would if you were consulting with patients within a surgery setting. We also advise against consulting from within your own practice/hospital, as the firewall settings may block your access to the system settings.

 

Additional FAQs

  • Are clinicians able to prescribe remotely? Yes. Clinicians will be able to log onto all systems that they usually would within a practice setting. Up to a few days before the session the technology is downloaded onto the clinician’s personal laptop and clinician’s smartcard is set up in that local area.
  • Are clinicians expected to see under 1s? Potentially. All patients are pre-screened before tele-consultations and deemed appropriate to be seen remotely. Any remote consultation relating to a child should receive a phone or video call by default. There will be no children under 6 months of age.
  • Can I access the practices’ Locum packs via Lantum? Some practices have uploaded their locum packs onto Lantum. When applying for a session, click ‘details’, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the locum pack.
  • What patients are they? Have they been triaged by 111?  No, the patients are all Primary Care patients who have contacted their GP surgery through submission of an online consultation form to ask for support, advice or guidance on any given condition. Some will be very standard and quick to remotely close and may be as simple as letting the patient know a prescription has been raised for them, others may be more complex. No two days or consultations will be the same. Clinicians will receive a referral pack with guidance of any local services to refer patients to. 
  • How many patients will clinicians be expected to see per hour? Clinicians are expected to see as many as they can safely, reporting any difficulties to consult along the way. A patient list for the session will be provided in the practice clinical system for the clinician to work through. As an average, you are likely to close around 18 consultations in a 4-hour session, however some consultations are very short, and some may be more complex. Therefore, you may be sent more or less than 18 for a 4-hour session. The triaging team will know approximately how long each consultation should take a GP on average based on over 4 years’ worth of data.
  • Are the sessions pensionable? Yes. If you are eligible, pension is offered ‘on top’ of the session rate. You can read more about claiming pension here.
  • What technology will be sent out to facilitate the sessions? Will a personal laptop suffice? You will receive a link via email that allows you to download the technology onto your personal laptop. Any laptop with Windows 10 or MacOS 10.10 or later should be able to work. Wherever possible, we advise against using NHS laptops to prevent firewall issues. Please ensure you have checked the section on what you will require to be eligible for holding remote consultations successfully. 
  • Do clinicians need experience on clinical systems? Yes. You must have experience using either EMIS or SystmOne (or both). You can only apply for sessions at a practice where you know how to use that clinical system. You will access their clinical system via the technology link provided along with all other systems you may need to use as part of remote digital locum work.  
  • Which Smartcard readers are recommended? Gemalto IDBridge CT30 and the Omnikey 3121
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GPintheCloud and Apple Macs

 

Support with issues

If you experience any technical issues or have questions, please contact the following:

Questions or issues with the Lantum platform: Contact the Lantum Customer Support team. You can get in touch either by using the online chat in the bottom left-hand corner, or via email support@lantum.com

Technical issues with the technology sent for remote digital locum work: dedicated IT helpdesk: 01752 398547. The desk is manned 07:30-19:00 M-F (closed weekends and bank holidays)

Issues with a remote consultation that require escalation: Contact your dedicated practice contact as defined in the provided locum pack for that practice.  

 

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