eConsult is one of the most widely used digital triage platforms in NHS primary care, cited as serving 3,300+ practices. It uses clinically validated, form-based questionnaires to collect a structured history for each request, generating a summary for clinician review.
Pricing
Not openly published — quote-based, typically procured at practice/PCN/ICB level. Confirm with the supplier.
Function
A Smart Inbox centralises requests and supports patient communication by SMS, video, email and phone, plus self-help signposting. Red-flag functionality routes urgent or emergency requests to higher-acuity care. A notable strength is breadth of integration: eConsult works with all three major clinical systems — EMIS, SystmOne and Vision — with full write access (patient matching and SNOMED coding), and it integrates with the NHS App (the company says it was the first online-consultation provider to do so).
Ease of setup
Supplier-led and designed for NHS general practice. Setup involves configuring the online form, the Smart Inbox and workflows, plus staff training on triage. The breadth of clinical-system integration simplifies the technical side.
Ease of use
The structured, form-based approach is familiar and predictable for staff, and integration means requests can be actioned and coded without leaving the workflow. As with any triage tool, the patient-facing form’s length and structure divides opinion — worth weighing against the quality of information it captures.
Applications / best fit
Broad fit across practice sizes and all three clinical systems — its Vision compatibility is a differentiator, since several competitors support only EMIS and SystmOne. Suits practices wanting a well-established, structured triage route that supports the October 2025 online-access requirements. Reviewer context (clinical system, list size, triage model) matters.
Things to check before buying
Total cost against list size, contract and support terms, how the form length affects your patient demographic, current DTAC/DSPT status, and exactly how requests write back to your clinical system.
Compare with
accuRx, PATCHS, Anima, Klinik and Rapid Health — see the other online consultation & triage tools.
Reviews
Lengthy and often misused by patients
EConsult is reliable but data is difficult to extract from it. The standard options often don’t fit patient’s needs or aren’t intuitively chosen. This means it’s common for patients to write “I don’t have a headache but I had to chose an option” before answering a page of questions about their non-existent headache.
Write a review
Your name can be a pseudonym and is the only thing shown publicly. A verified email is required but never published. All reviews are checked before they appear.