How we work with your GP

Who does what

The doctor prescribes and diagnoses. We carry out the prescribed care, observe and report.

We never change a treatment on our own initiative: we call, we describe what we see, and the decision belongs to the prescriber.

What triggers an immediate call

Unexplained fever, a wound changing in appearance or smell, new pain, very low or very high blood glucose, unusual confusion.

In a life-threatening situation we call 15 before anyone else. Coordination comes afterwards.

What we report, and in what form

After the first visit the doctor receives a written report: what we found at home, what was done, what concerns us, what we propose to monitor. One page, not ten.

After that the rule is simple: we write when something changes, and we telephone when something is urgent. A report arriving after the decision helps no one.

Exchanges go through secure health messaging where the doctor uses it. Failing that, by telephone, with a written trace in the care record.

The other professionals around the home

Physiotherapist, speech therapist, home help, pharmacist, laboratory: each sees the person at a moment when the others are absent. The care record left at home is what links those scattered observations.

We tell the pharmacist when a prescription changes and the laboratory when a sample must reach it within a tight window. Those two calls prevent most treatment delays.

When several professionals follow one another, we ask that one be identified as the lead for the file. Without a lead, coordination becomes a stream of messages with no recipient.

What stays in the home

A care record stays with you: any professional passing through — doctor, physiotherapist, locum — can see what was done and when.

It holds visit dates, observations, recorded vital signs, treatments given and calls made. It belongs to you: you may read it, show it and ask for a copy at any time.

How information travels, from the home to the surgery

A useful observation is only worth something if it reaches the right person, at the right time, in a legible form. Here is the exact route information takes in our organisation.

1. 01

   Observation

   At home, during care: wound status, vital signs, pain, treatment tolerance, and the life details that change the picture.

2. 02

   Writing

   The note is written at the home, not from memory in the evening. What is not written within the hour distorts.

3. 03

   Triage

   Two levels only: what waits for the periodic summary, and what warrants an immediate call to the doctor.

4. 04

   Sending

   Summary to the GP at the agreed rhythm, through the channel they actually use.

5. 05

   Feedback

   Every medical decision received is recorded and applied from the next visit onwards.

What triggers a call, what waits for the summary

The distinction is not about perceived severity but about useful delay: information that changes today's conduct is passed on today.

When the GP is unavailable

Holidays, a change of surgery, a patient with no registered GP: it happens, and it does not suspend prescribed care. We continue what is prescribed for as long as the prescription runs.

For anything requiring a new medical decision we turn to the named locum, to the doctor who wrote the prescription, or to the hospital team the care came from.

We document every attempt and every answer. That trace is not administrative caution: it lets the doctor picking up the file understand in two minutes what was done, and why.

What a useful handover note contains

A handover note is not an essay: it is data a doctor must be able to use in thirty seconds between consultations. So we always write in the same order.

• Date, time, name of the nurse who made the visit.
• The observed fact, measured where possible, without interpretation.
• What has changed since the previous visit.
• The procedure performed and the supplies used.
• The question for the doctor, if any, in one sentence.
• The timeframe in which an answer is expected.

Why we do not phone for everything

A medical practice receives dozens of calls a day. Calling about something that could have waited for the written note reduces the doctor's availability for the call that genuinely could not wait.

So we apply a simple rule: writing for what informs, a call for what changes today's course of action. Both are recorded in the file, with the time.

When to call

A treatment change decided in consultation, an adverse effect, a deteriorating wound, repeated refusal of care, a hospital admission, a change of GP: this information travels both ways, as early as possible.

Information passed twice has never harmed anyone; information not passed has.

The real rhythm of exchanges

On ordinary follow-up the exchange is monthly: one written update, plus prescription renewals anticipated about ten days before expiry. On a wound or a treatment being adjusted, it becomes weekly.

In an acute situation it becomes daily and spoken. That is not an administrative rule: it is the frequency at which a medical decision can genuinely change between two of our visits.

Frequently asked questions on this page

Terms explained

Handover notes

The written record of a visit: what was done, what was observed, what must be watched. The shared memory of the care episode.

MSSanté

The French secure health messaging system, used to exchange health data between professionals, and with patients, outside ordinary email.

Prescription

A doctor's written order stating the procedure, frequency and duration. Without it, nursing care cannot be delivered or reimbursed, apart from procedures allowed in direct access.

Mon espace santé

The patient's national digital health record, including a shared medical file and secure messaging. The patient controls who can access it.