2012 Local Patient Participation Report from The Blundellsands Surgery Patient Reference Group

ContentsPage number

  1. About the Patient Reference Group1
  2. Wider practice survey2
  3. Survey results and action plan overview3
  4. Summary5

Appendix 1 – Action Plan6

Appendix 2 – Survey results7

Appendix 3 – Practice opening times8

  1. About the Patient Reference Group (PRG)

The Blundellsands Surgery invited patients to form a patient reference group in June 2011. The aim was to involve patients more closely and so improve the way patients’ needs are looked after.

Patients were invited to join through the surgery’s website (see and via forms & posters distributed around the practice’s reception area.

The current PRG has some 20 members, membership ranges in age from mid 30s-mid 80s and the surgery’s invitation to participate was open to all patients regardless of age, gender, race, sexual orientation and disability

The composition of the PRG is approximately 60% female, largely white British with an average age in the mid-50s. The majority of have been registered patients for in excess of 20 years.

The practice and the PRG realise that the group is not wholly representative of the practice population. Posters & leaflets publicising the PRG remain on display and any patient who expresses an interest is encouraged to join.

  1. Wider practice survey

A key objective of the PRG is to understand and improve the way the practice cares for its patients. To assist this, the practice and the group carried out a survey of a sample of the practice population during between mid-December 2011 and end-February 2012

The questions asked were based on 4 areas identified as key during the initial PRG meeting held during July 2011. These 4 areas are contacting the surgery,

access to appointments, clinical care and continuity of care.

A number of other topics were reviewed by the PRG, including opening hours & the premises itself, but the 4 areas listed above were clearly thought to be the most popular when the PRG was asked to prioritise the most important issues to be covered by a questionnaire

The survey was carried out over 10 weeks and questionnaires weremade available in the practice itself, posted to patients (housebound patients and patients resident in nursing homes)emailed to patients. These methods were chosen because as they offered ways of bringing the PRG survey to the attention of as wide a number of patients as possible. Prior to the survey being released, its launched was announced via a text message. The surgery has mobile phone numbers approx. 32% of its near 10,000 strong patient list.

As the questionnaire was anonymised, it is not possible to give a complete breakdown of patient replies by age, sex etc. However, patient responses & discussions with the PRG would indicate that the surgery has managed to obtain feedback from a representative sample of patients. During the next practice survey, questions will be added to pick up demographic background details.

The practice sought to be inclusive with its questionnaire. It produced reports listing patients who were registered as not being White British & of those for whom English was not their first language. Lists were also produced identifying housebound patients, patients in nursing homes, patients with learning disabilities & visual impairment.

The survey was completely anonymous. Although some patients did chose to identify themselves, when they completed a free text box asking for general comments on the surgery.

  1. Survey results and action plan overview

The key survey results showed the following:

Overall Levels of Satisfaction

Response percent
Very satisfied / 74.4
Fairly Satisfied / 22
Neither satisfied or dissatisfied / 1.1
Fairly dissatisfied / 1.7
Very dissatisfied / 0.8

Contacting the surgery

•80% of patients said it was very/fairly easy to get through to the surgery by phone; approx 18% said it was not very easy / not at all easy.

•90% of respondents found reception desk staff helpful & easy to deal with.

•Over 50% of respondents had not tried contacting the practice via email

Access to appointments

Over 80% of respondents said they were able to see a doctor quickly, though 40% of patients said they could not see a nurse quickly (either the same day or within two days when the surgery was open).

80% of patients were able to book an appointment more than two days in advance with a doctor, and 65% with a nurse.

Clinical Care

7 areas of clinical were covered by the survey; in all areas a large proportion of respondents regarded standards as being very good or good. The surgery’s strongest results were in listening to patients & giving them sufficient time during consultations.

Continuity of Care

•Over 30% of patients would not know how to contact the Out of Hours services.

•Majority of patients are at least satisfied with levels of continuity of care.

A complete summary of the results is provided at appendix 1.

The PRG and practice staff discussed these results [at a meeting held on 12th March]. Based on this gathering, the group and the practice have agreed thatthe following actions will be undertaken:

-Surgery to work to enhance Practice Nurse skill mix where shortfalls have been identified.

-Partners to explain roles outside the surgery on the practice web site/newsletter;

-In-depth test explanations to be added to the web site/newsletter;

-Surgery to review the telephone system & handling peak time calls;

-Improve awareness of Out of Hours services;

The full action plan is provided in Appendix 2.

  1. Summary

The development of a Patient Reference Group and carrying out a patient survey has helped The Blundellsands Surgery identify some key areas for action. The practice and PRG will continue to work together to understand patients’ views about their practice, and how it can be where improvement can be made

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Appendix 1 – Action plan

Issue identified / Action to be taken
(or reason why this cannot be addressed in the near future) / Success criteria –
how will we know our action has led to improvement / Timetable
When will we implement / When will we measure progress
Practice Nurse appointment & skill mix / Review current provision of practice nursing & the current mix of skills / Reduced waiting times for appointments / On completion of training / During the next patient questionnaire
Partners to explain their roles outside the surgery on the practice web site/newsletter / Article to be added to practice website, leaflet & newsletter / Discuss with the PRG to gauge whether they feel better informed / End-April 2012 / On going
In depth explanation of clinical tests to be added to web site/newsletter / PRG to be consulted about types of information required about tests / Improvement in patient understanding of tests in the next questionnaire / End-April / Next practice questionnaire
Surgery to review the telephone system & handling peak time calls / Practicediscussing with telecoms provider in April 2012 / Improvements in level of satisfaction with regard to phone accessto the practice / 2nd quarter 2012 / Next practice questionnaire
Reduced awareness of how to access Out of Hours - services / Publicise in waiting room, practice website & leaflet. / Improvement in awareness of Out Of Hours services. / On going / Next practice questionnaire

Appendix 2 - survey results

A) see attachment for complete set of questions asked.

B)see attached a PowerPoint slides presented to the PRG on 12th March 2012.

C)In total questionnaires were emailed to 542 patients, 289 started the survey & 270 completed it. These figures represent response & completion rates of 53.2% and 49.81% respectively.

D)71 surveys either posted/handed out in reception were completed – the total no. of questionnaires taken from reception, but not completed is unknown.

Appendix 3 – practice opening hours

Surgery Opening Times
Mon / 8.00am-6.30pm / 6.30pm-8.00pm (by appointment only)
Tues / 8.00am-6.30pm
Wed / 8.00am-6.30pm
Thurs / 8.00am-6.30pm
Fri / 8.00am-6.30pm
Appointments and Home Visits
Doctor surgery times
Mon / 8.30-11am / 3.30-6:00pm / 6.30-8pm
Tues / 8.00-11am / 3.30-6:00pm
Wed / 8.30-11am / 3.30-6:00pm
Thurs / 8.00-11am / 3.30-6:00pm
Fri / 8.30-11am / 3.30-6:00pm
Nurse clinics
Mon / 9.00am-12noon / 2-5:30pm
Tues / 8:30am-12noon / 2-4:30pm
Wed / 8:30am-12noon / 2-5pm
Thurs / 8:30am-12noon / 2-5pm
Fri / 8:30am-12noon / 25:30pm
Telephone Appointments

For Telephone Consultations with a Doctor or a Nurse, patients ring the surgery between 08:00 and 9:00 to book a telephone consultation. The doctor or nurse will ring back after morning surgery.

Appointment booking

  • Patients ring the main switchboard number on (0151) 924 6464 to book an appointment.
  • Urgent cases are seen the same day
  • Patients with non-urgent issues can expect to see a GP within two working days though they may have to wait longer if they want to see a particular GP. If patients do not need an appointment within two working days, there is also the option to book up to two weeks in advance if this is more convenient.
  • Nurses based in our practice treat patients for a wide range of common conditions. Patients can expect to see a nurse within one working day.

Repeat prescriptions

For repeat prescriptions patients can come to the surgery in person or complete an online form found on the surgery web page - note only medicines that are currently on your repeat prescription form can be ordered in this way.

Other services

Out of hours

Out of Hours contact phone numbers are given on the practice answering machine message and details are also available on the surgery’s website & practice leaflet.

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