NHS National Services Scotland, on behalf of Scottish Government, has opened a market information gathering exercise for the provision of GP Online Triage Solutions or General Practice Digital Asynchronous Consultation Systems for up to 925 GP practices.
General Practice Digital Asynchronous Consultation Systems (DACS) is a term used in the notice to describe “a range of online general practice digital tools that support clinical triage and remote consultations”, allowing patients to request and receive support relating to healthcare concerns, at a time and place convenient for them.
The intention is to contract a triage solution to support healthcare professional deal with requests and make informed decisions about how best to respond, such as to offer information, advice, offer a consultation, provision of a repeat prescription or a referral to other services. In addition, the platform should support patient self-help advice or signposting.
As part of the notice it states: “General Practices can decide whether to use DACS as an addition to other services they offer where appropriate to meet patient’s access needs and it is not intended to replace other methods of access such as telephone or face to face.”
The market testing exercise is through an online questionnaire, hoping to understand solutions in the market and potential considerations.
The contract is likely to be for a two-year term, and up to £2 million.
