NEWARK ROAD SURGERY
PATIENT SURVEY – REPORT
This year’s Patient Survey was carried out in conjunction with the existing Practice’s Patient Participation Group (PPG), which is a group of our patients interested in helping to improve the service offered by the Practice Team. A questionnaire had already been developed and agreed by the PPG earlier in the year and so this was used as the basis of the Patient Survey for 2011/12. The PPG then assisted the Practice to recruit members of a larger Patient Group called the Patient Reference Group, which was aimed at representing all of the Practice’s demographics. During the recruitment phase the new members of the PRG were asked to comment on the proposed Survey, and as no one disagreed with the questions it was sent out to all members of the PRG to complete. This resulted in only 35 responses despite sending it out to 120 patients. The PPG then assisted the Practice by getting patients in the waiting room to complete the survey. This resulted in 120 completed surveys, which this report has been based on.
The Results
The questionnaire consisted of 7 questions. The first 4 questions were of the tick box type and the results for them were as follows:
1. How would you prefer to order repeat prescriptions?
On Line 47% Phone 24% Paper 29%
2. How would you like to book an appointment?
On Line 26% In person 4% Phone 70%
3. Would you like to be reminded of your appointment by text 24 hours before it is due?
Yes 51% No 49%
4. Newark Road Surgery is part of OPTIMUS PLC, which best describes your knowledge of OPTIMUS
Never heard of it 73%
Heard of it but do not know what it is 15%
Vaguely know what Optimus is 6%
Have a good understanding of what Optimus is 6%
The remaining 3 questions asked patients about their good and bad experiences and suggestions for improvement. Of those that actually made comments in one or more of the questions, the following are the summarised results:
Good Points Customer Care 34%
Clinical treatment 32 %
Lovely medical staff 22%
Availability of appointments 9%
Continuity of care 3%
Bad Points None 44%
Overall patient experience 28%
Appointment system 10%
Correspondence 9%
Others 9%
Suggestions for Improving the Service Provided
Improve the patient experience 40%
(This included such things as the a larger car park, improving the waiting room, reduction of time spent in waiting room and improve the manner of the staff.)
Improve the appointment system 37%
(This included such things as more on the day appointments, more pre-booked appointments and extended hours.)
More use of on-line services 6%
Expediate delivery of prescriptions 5%
Display waiting time 3%
Others suggested by one patient only 9%
The Analysis
Question 1 It would appear that the most preferred method of requesting a repeat prescription is the On Line method. As not all patients currently have immediate access to the internet we would also need to have an alternative method. It is felt that this alternative should be the current paper version as it would require no further changes to the system, which would be required if we chose the phone option.
Question 2 By far the most preferred option for making an appointment is the one currently in use, ie by phone. This will require no changes to the system.
Question 3 As the vote for getting a text message 24 hours before an appointment was nearly 50/50 it would seem to be a system we could consider implementing for those that want it. It will involve a considerable amount of work to collect/confirm mobile numbers, gain consent/decline from all of our patients and then set up the system to send texts to those that wish one, therefore it is not possible to provide this service in the short term.
Question 4 Considering the fact that Newark Road Surgery has been part of the Optimus Group for a number of years it is disappointing that nearly ¾ of the patients asked, had never heard of it. We must endeavour to improve this situation so that more patients are aware of the wider aspects of the Surgery.
Question 5 The overwhelming comments regarding patient’s good experiences over the last 12 months revolve around the interaction with the staff, both clinical and non-clinical. In addition, many patients felt that the clinical treatment they received was the Surgery’s best area.
Question 6 It was very pleasing to note that of those patients that provided an answer to this question, nearly half of them stated that they had not had a bad experience in the last 12 months. Those that had had a poor patient experience stated that they were mainly due to poor customer care and excessive waiting times when attending for an appointment. Although 10% of those that replied to this question complained about the appointment system, only 4 patients stated the problem as being unable to get an appointment on the day and no one said that they could not pre book an appointment when they wanted to.
Question 7 As to be expected, considering the answers to question 6, the most popular areas for improvement were the overall patient experience and the appointment system. Some of the suggestions were outside of our control, such as more parking spaces and giving an exact time when a GP would call. However others were more achievable such as displaying waiting times and staff training to improve their handling of certain categories of patients. A little harder to achieve is the balance between on the day and pre-booked appointments. No matter how many of each we provide there will always be one more person wanting one and therefore to that patient we will have got the balance wrong. For those unable to get an appointment on the day we do provide a GP call back system. This allows the GP to decide if the patient needs to come straight in to be seen or if they can advise over the phone, thus ensuring anyone with an immediate need does not have to wait until the next day.
Proposed Action Plan
As a result of this Survey; discussions between the GP’s, staff and patients; and legislative requirements the following proposed action plan has been produced.
HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE BILL |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Continue to support the introduction of changes required by the Health and Social Care Bill through engagement with the newly formed CCG and outgoing PCT staff. | Dr Noorpuri | 31/3/13 |
CARE QUALITY COMMISSION (CQC) REGISTRATION |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Prepare for mandatory CQC Registration | Mr Symonds | 31/7/12 |
Carry out registration process | | 31/3/13 |
ON LINE REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Identify all patients wishing to use this service | Mr Symonds | 30/9/12 |
Configure SystemOne to allow on line repeats | | 30/6/12 |
Train all relevant staff in new system | | 30/6/12 |
Register all patients wishing to use the service | | 31/3/13 |
ON-LINE APPOINTMENTS |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Review implications of introducing On-Line appointments for consideration in the future | Mr Symonds | 31/12/12 |
TEXT REMINDER |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Review implications of introducing Text reminders for consideration in the future | Mr Symonds | 31/08/12 |
Seek the views of a wider group of patients | | 31/08/12 |
OPTIMUS |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Provide patients with more information of Practice involvement with Optimus via website, waiting room and leaflets | Mr Symonds | 31/12/12 |
APPOINTMENTS SYSTEM |
Action | Lead | Deadline |
Carry out 3rd next appointment audit on a bi-monthly timetable | Mr Symonds | Starting in May 12 |
Consider results of audits to identify any possible changes required to the appointments system | | 31/12/12 |
Conclusion
This is the first time the Practice has involved its patients in the development and running of a Patient Survey and it has been very successful. The overall aim of this type of survey is to allow more involvement by patients in the way their surgery is run, which is in line with current government policy. We have learnt a number of things which will hopefully make future ones run a little more smoothly but in essence it has been a fairly painless exercise.
We will still be required to run the more traditional surveys, provided by a 3rd party, as there is a requirement for all GPs to have 1 in each 5 year period for re-validation purposes.
Finally I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the whole Practice, to thank the PPG and all members of the PRG that have helped to develop, run and respond to this year’s Patient Survey.