A doctors' practice in Falmouth has become the first in Cornwall to offer patients 24 hour access to online medical advice along with the ability to get treatment and feedback from their GP over the web.

Kernow Health is working with general practices in the old Carrick area to introduce this new way for patients to be able to remotely access their GP surgery at a time that suits them. eClinic, as it is called, offers secure online consultation templates for most common conditions along with hundreds of self-help guides and videos.

The service, being rolled out by the Falmouth Health Centre Practice, guarantees that the patient will hear back from their doctor by no later than the end of the next working day, should they request a consultation. The service is available 24/7 at faldoc.co.uk.

Practice manager Geoff Dennis said: “Giving patients another way to communicate with their GP can bring huge benefits for patients and the practice. It speeds up access to health advice and helps to ensure that people who need to see a GP get an appointment much more quickly. Patients will have access at a time that suits them and using the built in symptom checker they may even save themselves a visit to the doctor.”

Peter Stokes, for Kernow Health, said: "In other parts of country where this has been introduced patients have really welcomed it. The self-triage and patient information service has shown in a recent six month study to make patient contact with their surgeries more efficient and in 60 per cent of cases, patients were able to resolve their health concerns without even visiting the practice.

"Despite this, we are aware that in Cornwall many people still don’t have access to the internet and for these people the way they book and see their GP won’t change. We are delighted that Falmouth Health Centre is the first to turn the system on."

The study also proved that using the system brought huge benefits for both patients and GP practices, speeding up access to health advice and ensuring that people who need to see a GP are able to get an appointment more quickly.