Patient Survey 2008/9
Run May 2008

Our response to your comments

The past year has been a difficult year for general practice and this small practice in particular. We have been trying to provide a quality service during a period of decreased funding. Whilst headlines in the media have been highlighting huge GP salaries this could not be further from the truth in Marston. However, we have continued to value the quality of the service and the commitment of the staff and we continue to try to do our best in the face of difficulties.

It seems from the survey that we are getting some things right. Nearly all the comments made are positive.

We always appreciate hearing your views, both in the survey and during the year and we do listen to what you are telling us and can offer the following responses to the individual comments made:

Opening hours

Your comments

• Longer opening hours
• More flexible opening hours – at lunchtime and after hours
• Have less awkward opening hours
• More opening hours, more hours for doctors

Our response

Our contract with the Department of Health requires us to be available for core hours – 8.00 – 18.30. Our phones are open for all of these hours and our doors are open from 8.00-12.00 and 14.00 – 18.00.
Since April 2008 we have been asked to provide extended hours in relation to the size of our patient list. Funds have been taken away from clinical care to offer us some funding to do this.
From April 2008 we are opening one late night a week which we hope will address the problems raised here. We now offer appointments from
6.00 pm – 8.45 pm.

We had many comments closing the surgery between 12.00-2.00 daily. We have had telephone access over lunchtime for the past 3 years. We realise that it is inconvenient for patients that the doors are closed during this period but this is not because we are having a long lunch break. We use this time to do the many administrative tasks that we need to do to keep the surgery running efficiently.

Many of these tasks have become more complex over the years and we can provide these services more quickly if we shut over the lunchtime period (examples of work we do are processing and checking registrations, installing computer updates and servicing IT equipment, holding staff meetings for updates on the practice and NHS changes, processing and copying notes for solicitors’ reports and insurance reports).

Clinical staff use this time for returning phone calls to patients, hospital staff, midwives, social services etc as well as visiting patients, completing medical reports, writing referral letters, working with other practice staff on (for example) prescribing, clinical targets, timetabling, tutorials with medical students etc as well as attending clinical updates and local GP groups which are now responsible for purchasing clinical services on behalf of their patients. The GPs also have the responsibility for the business and need time for this as well.

Telephone

Your comments

• A normal 01865 number, to ring 0844 costs too much from a mobile
• The new phone number is completely unmemorable, if only the old easy to remember number could be retained or incorporated in the new, it would be a godsend
• Have a normal telephone number
• An easier to remember phone number with no choices. Same as it used to be

Our response

We know the change in telephone number has been unpopular and we did not change it without consideration.

Our old switchboard was on it last legs and we needed to find a replacement. Nearly every system we looked at now provides the facility of offering options for where you wish your call to be directed. The service we chose offered the best range of options for our surgery set up and whilst we would have preferred to keep the old number we had to change to move onto a new network with our new supplier.

The 0844 is a local call number it is not a premium rate line.

The new system does provide both the patients and practice staff with benefits. Patients no longer get the engaged tone and know they are being held in a queue rather than having to constantly re-dial during busy periods. They can also cancel appointments when we are closed.

Appointments/Appointment times

These were largely positive which is fantastic – I offer a response to the rest of the comments

Your comments

• No improvements needed, excellent, can always get same day appointment
• This is a really personal service. I can always get an appointment and get really good
• Feel quite rushed during appointment. Too many patients to be seen by the doctor?
• To try and get an appointment for today or tomorrow is well-nigh impossible. This needs to improve
• If I am late for an appointment I would prefer that the receptionist admonished me rather than the doctor, as it makes a poor start to the consultation.
• Wish I could see the doctor of my choice more frequently

Our response

Punctuality is something we take very seriously. Our standard appointment times are 15 minutes (a few are 10 minutes and some are 30 minutes) which are longer than in most practices. These timings are specifically so that patients have enough time with the doctor and that we run to time. However, what we cannot anticipate are patients who consistently turn up either after their appointment time or 10 minutes into their 15 minute slot and expect their full appointment time. This obviously puts the whole morning or afternoon out of kilter. We also cannot anticipate what patients consult their doctor about – some issues may be more complex or upsetting and may need more of the doctor or nurse’s time. Not everything can be tightly timetabled. We also often have to urgently admit a patient to hospital during a morning or afternoon surgery and this may often delay patients who are waiting. Unfortunately, this is the nature of general practice. We do our best so that patients are not kept waiting and will advise patients of any significant delays.

When patients are late this can similarly lead to a knock-on effect with the morning’s appointments especially when it is early in the session. The Receptionists are guided by the doctors who manage their time differently. Whilst we understand that doctors do sometimes run late which can be annoying, the best way to get your consultation off to a good start is still to be punctual.

All of our GPs are popular and all of them are part-time. Unfortunately this means that they do get booked up ahead as they are not here every day. We have tried different methods of managing demand but demand is growing at an incredibly fast rate. We have seen another huge increase in demand for appointments this year. Bearing in mind the restrictions on the number of rooms we have available and the hours the doctors can work and are available here, we do the best we can. We also prefer for patients to see their doctor of choice and we are constantly looking at different appointment models to do our best to match supply and demand.

This is a mixed bag of positive and negative comments. We do always have appointments for the same day but it is hard to tell from the comments whether patients who complained wanted a specific doctor or a specific time which is often difficult. If we offer an appointment for the same day in the morning, we are often told that patients can only come after work. This is not always possible for us to accommodate and if patients require a same day appointment because they are unwell they may have to accept what we have available.

Staff

Your comments

• Nurses should wear uniforms, and the doctors too
• Lovely staff, lovely practice
• The staff are all very kind and helpful. That counts for a lot when one is not in good health
• The practice manager and all the staff are incredibly kind and helpful
• Lovely staff!
• Very caring staff
• They’re very very good
• Receptionists could smile more
• More friendly approach

Our response

We do our best to be helpful and friendly at all times. Sometimes when demand is high our high standards may slip and we apologise. It is very pressured at the front desk where Receptionists are trying to juggle the demands of patients in the surgery, patients on the telephone, the doctors and nurses here, hospital requests and other agencies requesting information. Obviously we are getting it right for some patients and it is an area we want to do well in for everybody.

We cannot see any need for uniforms and do not even know what a doctor’s uniform is. It would be helpful if patients making comments like this could talk to us so we understand the issue. Everybody wears name badges with their job title so that patients know who we are and what we do.

General comments

Your comments

• No improvements needed, excellent service
• Improve…how?
• I am totally satisfied with all aspects of the surgery
• There is a really personal service at this medical centre
• All good
• Excellent
• Couldn’t be better
• Good notice boards and lots of leaflets
• I do not believe it could be any better
• I find this practice excellent
• This surgery is the best I have been to!
• Very high quality service
• This practice is very well organised
• A very caring practice
• Very satisfied
• No improvement needed
• They’re very good
• The doctors and nurses provide a good level of care
• I am happy with everything
• I have found this practice exemplary. My children have specific health issues that the doctors have been extremely supportive with
• I have been with you for many years and my doctors excellent
• It seems a very friendly/efficient practice
• I had a condition that meant I should have been referred to the hospital. It took an experienced doctor to spot this.
• On the day I attended you were gathering signatures on a petition. That’s fine but Receptionists must make it clear what it is and that it is potentially controversial. They must not just say “Can you sign this?”

Our response

We will never satisfy everybody but the huge amount of positive comments we received make us feel that we do get something right! The comments this year have been very positive and will continue to value and promote good patient care.

There are areas that we will continue to work on and I have detailed future planning further in this document.

We always like to hear what you think about us. Don’t just wait for the next survey!

June 2008

Wendy Greenberg
Practice Manager
 

Please click here to open a copy of last year's Patient Survey Results

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