The GP Patient Survey is an independent survey run by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England. It gives patients the opportunity to feed back their experience. The survey is carried out January – March 2021 with results published July 2021.

In this year’s survey, 265 surveys were sent out and 125 returned – 47% completion rate.

For more information, please visit: Practice Overview (gp-patient.co.uk)

The key question ‘overall experience of this GP Practice’ gave our practice a score of 90% satisfaction. The national average is 83% and our CCG average (Clinical Commissioning Group) is 86%.

Areas where the Practice does best

• Patients described their experience of making an appointment as good
• Patients are satisfied with the GP appointment times available
• Patients usually get to see or speak to their preferred GP when they would like to

Our GP Services

• Patients found it easy to get through to the practice by phone
• Patients found reception staff helpful
• Patients were happy with the appointment times available
• Patients usually get to see or speak to their preferred GP when they would like to

Making an appointment

• Patients were satisfied with the type of appointment offered and took the appointment offered
• Patients described their experience of making an appointment as good

Patients’ Health

• Patients say they had enough support from local services in the last 12 months to help manage their long term condition(s)
• Patients say the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at giving them time, was good at listening, was good at treating them with care and concern and involved them as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment.
• Patients had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to
• 97% of patients felt their needs were met during their last appointment

Where we did not do so well and why

• 58% of patients say they were offered a choice of appointment when they last tried to make a GP appointment. It means, based on this percentage that some patients are not getting the choice of appointment they want.
• 85% of respondents felt that the healthcare professional recognised or understood any mental health needs during their last GP appointment

The past year throughout the pandemic has been a difficult time for everyone with many changes being brought into general practice to allow us to continue to provide and maintain services for patients who have existing health conditions as well as those relating to Covid-19 as well as many patients and staff having had to shield or self-isolate.

We have introduced remote consultations via telephone and video, more support and information being sent out digitally, digital triage, social distancing in our waiting rooms, PPE and Covid-19 vaccinations for all our adult patients.

We have also introduced some new roles into the practice such as clinical pharmacists, physiotherapists and social prescribers with more being employed to increase our range of expertise within the Practice and increase our number of appointments.

Action Plan:

• With the unknown of the pandemic and the introduction of our digital triage platform via our website, which has significantly increased the number of patient contacts, this means we are requested to provide more appointments with a range of different clinicians. We are constantly looking at how the Practice can process and manage the volume of work with the new website, understanding patients’ needs in a pandemic and the changes this has brought to all our patients and staff who are learning the new way of working. We rely on patient feedback to help us make improvements and with the new significant changes that have been introduced we will continue to review our processes, training for our staff and communication to our patients.
• All staff are aware of where to refer for mental health anxiety and depression issues. We are now completing SMI/mental health reviews over the phone as well as face to face if this is preferred. We will continue to monitor how this is working for our patients.
• There is significantly more training and information available for staff to understand and recognise signs of mental wellbeing, domestic abuse and safeguarding issues. We will continue to direct the correct training to our staff.
• The Live Well Service has been introduced which brings together a team of specialists such as CBT therapists, social prescribers, clinical pharmacists and the GP in the practice to provide a range of physical, emotional and social support. This service is for patients who are worried about any aspect of their mental health, feeling lonely or isolated or struggling to cope. We will communicate this to our patients to ensure they are aware of the service.

We offer our patients:

• We have three sites and are able to offer our patients as much choice as we possibly can within the remit of appointments available (we are aware that not all patients are able to travel between sites which will reduce the choice available to them)
• We aim to offer all patients an emergency appointment on the day
• We offer appointments with our clinical pharmacist who is available to see patients to help with medication queries, medication reviews, give advice and treat high blood pressure and cholesterol
• We offer appointments with MSK (musculoskeletal) physiotherapists who are able to see patients with problems such as bone, joint or muscle related problems – painful neck, back, knees, ankles, muscle aches, joint pains and stiffness. They are experts in this field and are able to assess the condition, diagnose, give advice and guidance and refer onto the appropriate service if applicable
• We offer appointments with our social prescriber who is able to provide patients with non-medical support taking a holistic approach to patients health and wellbeing connecting people to community groups for practical and emotional support
• We provide Extended Access Clinics Monday to Friday 6.30pm to 9.00pm, Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm and Sunday and bank holidays 9.00am to 12.00pm. providing additional appointments for patients who find it hard to get to the surgery during the day

The results of the GP Survey and our Action Plan will be discussed in meetings we hold regularly in the Practice and this is on the agenda of each meeting as a regular feature.