Although GP video consultations provide fast access to medical help, there are a few situations where an employee’s ailments are not easily diagnosed over the phone.
For example, in some cases a doctor will need to take samples from you in order to get to the bottom of a condition, such as blood or urine.
In other situations, an employee may feel more comfortable talking about their health problems face-to-face.
This is common for mental health issues such as workplace stress. Having a GP visit in person can help to make difficult conversations easier by creating a more personally intimate space to talk about creating a stress management plan.
Therefore, to help promote workplace wellness, it is helpful to have the facility for you employees to get seen to quickly and efficiently with a home-based or office-based doctor’s visit.
But what is the best way to prepare your employees for a visit of this nature so that they get the most out of it?
Make a Plan in Advance of the Doctor’s Visit
To really get the most out of a face-to-face visit, employees must spend time planning what they are going to mention, ideally laying out a rough agenda for the appointment. On average, patients only have 23 seconds of speech before a doctor interrupts to dig deeper into the sickness symptoms they describe.
It’s important they cover all of their needs in the opening remarks to their doctor, therefore it’s wise to make some notes beforehand so that they don’t forget anything they want to bring up during the face-to-face consultation.
Remind Employees to Share Their Medical Background
Since they may well be visited by a doctor unfamiliar with their medical history, it makes sense to gather all of the necessary information and present it to them so they have plenty of detailed medical information to help frame their diagnoses.
This includes providing any medication they may be on. It could be that their condition is a well-known side effect of using a specific treatment for a pre-existing condition.
Encourage Employees to Prepare Questions and Take Notes
The average GP consultation time in the UK stands at 10.6 minutes, and although your employee’s doctor’s visit may be longer, it’s still not a lot of time to be able to ask all of the questions they want to.
Therefore, it’s vital to have a list of questions ready to ask the doctor. The planning of these questions can be tied in with the planning of the appointment outline mentioned in our first recommendation.
Similarly, it can sometimes feel like an appointment is over very quickly. It’s important to take notes so that nothing crucial is forgotten such as the doctor’s recommendations.
How to Arrange Workplace Face-to-Face Consultations?
If employee sickness is taking its toll on your workforce, then why not set up GP visits to the office as part of your employee benefits package?
Doctors can be secured for as little as £40 per session and our service includes automatic sick notes, prescriptions delivered to your place of work, and follow-up care provided via email.
If you think your company could benefit from having a healthier workforce, then take a moment to review our employee packages to see which is the best fit for your organisation.
DocHQ Ltd is a Health Tech company improving choices. We help you connect efficiently to health support and advice whether you are at home, work or travelling. See our website for our services or call us on 0330 088 0645.
