- 94% of respondents say the last GP they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern Local (CCG) average: 88%. National average: 85%
- 95% of respondents say the last GP they saw or spoke to was good at explaining tests and treatments Local (CCG) average: 88%. National average: 86%
- 85% of respondents would recommend this surgery to someone new to the area Local (CCG) average: 79%. National average: 78%.
However, 3 areas stand out as needing improvement and we are aware of these ourselves already.
- 39% of respondents usually wait 15 minutes or less after their appointment time to be seen Local (CCG) average: 68% National average: 65%
- 70% of respondents are satisfied with the surgery’s opening hours Local (CCG) average: 79% National average: 75%
- 54% of respondents with a preferred GP usually get to see or speak to that GP Local (CCG) average: 63% National average: 59
We Have Taken the Following Actions and Hope that this Will Bring Positive Benefits.
1. Actions Already Taken
All our GPs feel that the complexity of consultations has increased over the past few years to almost unsustainable levels. It is no longer possible to consult in 5 or 10 min appointments and so we have already taken action to introduce breaks effectively taking our consultations to 12 and a half minutes. Having seen the preliminary results coming in on this survey we have already taken action to further increase consultations to 15 minutes for most GPs. This carries some risks as to do this effectively, we have had to reduce the number of appointments per surgery to 14 from 16 but hope that some of this will be offset by the introduction of F2 doctors and possibly a nurse practitioner to the mix.
2. Actions Already Taken
We are contracted to provide services 8-6 5 days a week and some extended hours under a DES. In previous surveys patients have stated that they are happy with us (preferred) providing those extended hours during Saturday mornings despite this being less popular with some of our GPs. Despite this 70 % of respondents were satisfied meaning that 30% would like a change to opening hours. The national average is 25% and local average 21%. We have been piloting improved access through offering weekend and evening appointments at the Hub which gives full access to Emis records and this has proved popular with many patients. It would be interesting to survey further in discussion with PPG to assess whether the less satisfied group have found this useful. The risks here are that patients may want to see their usual GP.
3. More Analysis Required
54% of respondents usually get to see their preferred GP. This is lower than local average but similar to national averages. There are two aspects to this which make it difficult to interpret. How do patients define their “preferred GP” DJR has relatively recently reduced his hours, building relationships with new GPs takes time and until patients have met a new GP a few times they don’t know if that might become their preferred GP. The other problem is that the attempts to reduce waiting times and improve access will certainly have an impact on access to the “preferred GP” Currently we do not think there is an easy solution to this but staff could perhaps ask more questions to ascertain the “preferred GP”. More analysis of this is required.