DR LONGFIELD & PARTNERS
WOODROYD CENTRE
WOODROYD ROAD
OFF GREENWAY ROAD
BRADFORD
BD5 8EL
TEL: 0844 477 8906
FAX: 0844 477 3552
Introduction
The Patient Participation Group was established in 2007 and was a group from both Dr Longfields and Dr Fenwicks practices. There were 16 members originally and they monthly for an hour to an hour and a half. Over a period of time the group decreased in size and in 2011 the group had diminished to 6 members.
In May 2011 the practice actively started to recruit for its own PPG. Notices and leaflets were sent out to patients and we have had a small response. We contacted local businesses and put posters in shops and the post office. We contacted the local Trident volunteer group and the childrens centre based here at Woodroyd. 20 patients said that they would attend our PRG group. We asked them what time would be best to meet. We arranged an evening meeting at the group’s request and unfortunately only 3 people attended.
We have a virtual group of patients who do not wish to attend meetings but are happy for us to contact them from time to time by email to help us define our services etc.
Profile of our PRG
We now have 33 acceptances to join our virtual Patient Reference Group (PRG)
There are 16 Males and 17 Females. 10 of our patients are Asian and 22 white. This is not a true reflection of our practice population as 60% of our practice population are Asian. Also we have been unable to recruit any Eastern European patients and we have a population of 10%. We have tried numerous methods of recruiting these groups and we will continue to target the under represented groups by actively giving out information in the waiting room, at baby clinic, in the local shops and by giving out information to our local volunteer organisations in the area.
We have a Fruit and vegetable stall in the centre on a Thursday morning and many of the locals access this. We will share information about our group at this focal point.
How we obtained your views.
We need more members so we have encompassed the whole practice to help us. We have designated notice boards in the waiting room and down the corridor.
“YOU ASKED – WE DID”
We wanted to know what important issues our patients wanted us to focus on.
We looked at a variety of information sources and gathered feedback via complaints, suggestions and our National GP Survey. We then drafted a survey regarding access, waiting room and telephone system. The survey was given out to patients in the waiting room, sent to our virtual group and on our website.
The results of the surveys were advertised on our designated notice boards and emailed to our virtual group. We held a meeting on 4th October, which was poorly attended however we did prioritise issued from the survey and form an action plan.
Dr Longfield & partner - Action Plan
What / How / Who / When / OutcomePatients would like a geographic number as an option when ringing the surgery / We looked at different ways of providing this. If we just had a geographic number then we would not be able to give the different options e.g. direct link to out of hours. Queue information instead of engaged tone. Able to record telephone conversations if needed.
The reason we adopted the 084 system in the first place was because patients complained they did not like to get the engaged tone and would prefer to be in a queue when they knew how long they had to wait. / Practice Manager to discuss options with different suppliers. / November
Current supplier offered option to include geographic number as an option. / Land line number was introduced 2012.
Access. Some Patients are unhappy with appointment system. Don’t feel they can get an appointment the same day. / How do we improve our system. We are stretched to capacity. We will look at introducing triage on a Thursday morning as we have less appointments on that day as the NP is on study leave. We have successfully introduced enhanced services and minor ailments clinic. We will look at whether a local pharmacist can offer a walk in minor ailments clinic from a room accessed from the main waiting room. Also can we involve the Health Trainer more to promote Health Education / Practice Manager and clinical team.
Also discussions with pharmacist and health trainer / Triage Nov 2011
Discussions ongoing re Pharmacy scheme / Tried the Nurse Triage for 3 months but it was not successful as patients did not want to see a Nurse and went on to make appointments with the doctor anyway.
Pharmacy scheme ongoing
Need to increase patient involvement as very poor uptake. / We will continue to include the whole practice population by advertising and surveys and also our virtual PRG. We will encourage patients by using the waiting room as the focus for our communication, by notice board, survey, chatting to patients, holding events in the waiting area and letting them know that we are listening. / Whole team / ongoing / ongoing
In Summary
We need to do more to attract patients to join our group. We have shown that having a patient representative group helps address many service issues. We have listened to feedback and from our finding we have formulated an action plan.
As a result of patient suggestion we have made the following improvements:
We have added an additional local land line number to our telephone options
We have dedicated notice boards to sharing our news and surveys to improve communication
We have varied our appointments and the clinics we hold to improve access and we are continuing to look at new ways of working to give our patients improved access.
We have learnt to work with our patients, listen to their views and act on them where appropriate.
Practice Information
Dr Longfield & Partner is open between the hours of 7.00am and 8.00pm Mondays, Tuesday to Friday we are open 8.00am to 6.30pm. The practice provides extended hours between 7.00am and 7.30 am and 6.30pm and 8.00pm on Mondays. These appointments are pre bookable. A GP and Health care Assistant are available between 7.00am and 7.30 am and a GP between 6.30pm and 8.00pm.
Patients can make appointments by telephoning or in person at the practice.
Surgery times (see below, these are subject to change.)
Surgery / Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / FridayMorning
8.00 am
11.30 am / Dr Longfield
Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell Minor Ailments / Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell
Dr Longfield Baby clinic/Emergencies / Dr Longfield Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell / Dr Longfield
Dr de Haar / Dr Longfield
Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell
Afternoon
2.00 pm
6.00pm / Dr Longfield
Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell / Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell / Dr Longfield / Dr Longfield
Dr de Haar
Sister Helliwell
Look for us on Facebook.
This report will be available on our website and has been shared with the PCT.