Overview
Part of Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB, The Bay Medical Practice piloted ‘Website Widgets’ in Surgery Connect, displaying live ‘Callers in Queue’ and ‘Current Longest Wait’ for all patient groups to better inform patient choice and improve transparency.
The challenge
With around 27,500 patients across two sites and taking 400–600 calls a day, the practice had recently moved to total triage. During the switch, calls took longer and queues grew, creating pressure at peak times.
The solution
The practice wanted to test whether showing real-time visibility over queue length and longest wait could better manage expectations and help patients choose when (and whether) to call, supporting a smoother spread of demand across the day.
Early insights and implementation
“We didn’t need to go to our website provider to get it included, it just worked. You don’t need technical knowledge to get it running: copy the code, paste it, away you go.”
Ryan, Practice Manager
The widget, showing both “Callers in Queue” and “Current Longest Wait” for all groups, was added directly by the practice without needing support from their website provider. Setup was quick, non-technical, and the embedded card fit neatly on key pages for clear visibility.
Staff found the rollout simple and value being able to manage updates independently. While no direct patient feedback was received, increased website traffic suggests more patients are checking call information before phoning.
Early results and impact
Within the first few weeks, the team noticed a clear shift in patient behaviour. More people were checking the website before calling, leading to a smoother flow of calls throughout the day. As total triage became established, overall call volumes reduced, and when the phones were busy, queues were shorter and more manageable. The widget gave the team greater ownership, allowing easy setup and adjustments without external support. Its flexible design fit neatly on key web pages, while the live, auto-refreshing data kept patients informed, helping them decide whether to call or use online services instead.
Looking ahead
The Bay Medical Practice will keep the widgets in place alongside total triage and continue monitoring website traffic, call patterns and patient behaviour. The team is open to broader rollout and would recommend the feature to others locally.
This pilot shows how small enhancements within Surgery Connect can make a big impact on transparency, patient experience and access management.