East Barnwell Health Centre
Patient Participation Report 2012/13
5.
This report summarises development and outcomes of East Barnwell Health CentrePatient Reference Group (PRG) in 2012/13.
1.Maintaining the Patient Participation Group
Recruiting to the Patient Reference Group (PRG)
1.1 The Practice is required to confirm the ongoing process used in order to continue to recruit to their PRG (tick all applicable and provide samples if appropriate)
Wrote to patients (attach letter) Put up Posters in Practice
Offered leaflets to all patients attending practice (attach leaflet) Emailed patients
Put information on the practice website ( attach web link) Other
1.2 The Practice is required to provide details of all other methods of engaging patients and how they are ensuring continued engagement with the PRG established in 2011-12.
Posters were placed to invite patients to join the practice’s PPG on the PPGs specific notice board
Leaflets (including contact proformas) regarding the PPG were available at the reception hatch and also handed out to patients by Doctors and Nurses.
Patients were invited to attend PPG meetings either in writing or by email (those who expressed an interest)
Patients were directly approached opportunistically in the practice, e.g. in the waiting room, to try and encourage engagement and attendance at the PPG meetings.
Assistance was sought from the Practice’s Health Visiting Team and the Midwife when seeing patients and young families to highlight the existence of the PPG and its meetings.
The PM visited the Fields Children Centre in an effort to try and encourage young families to join the PPG.
Information regarding the PPG was added to the practice’s website ( and also on the AMSCREEN messaging systems in both waiting rooms.
The practice provided a PPG stall at the Flu Clinic in an effort to drive patient participation.
1.3 The Practice is required to provide a brief summary of the patient groups represented in the Practices PRG and describe what steps they have taken to understand any changes to their own demographics in order to ensure the PRG is a representative sample of the population.
All age groups are represented in the PPG’s virtual group, with the exception of the late teens (a group notoriously difficult to engage with). This large virtual group includes a wide mix of ethnic background, employed, unemployed, and retired patients. The group also includes patients with long term conditions, mental health issues, chronic conditions and those who use the practice both frequently and infrequently. Members of the committee also include a wide patient demographic.
At its first PPG meeting, the practice provided the PPG audience with information regarding its patients’ demographics and discussed what true patient representation means. The PPG felt that true patient representation would be difficult to achieve, however they felt it was an important issue which would remain a constant priority item on the agenda and would also feature on the Action Plan (ie examining how a wider representation can be achieved).
Contact was also made by the practice with a local Youth Development Worker to discuss ways of engaging with teenagers and young adults.
The PPG recognised that this age group is under-represented and is seeking to redress this issue. However, this is a notoriously difficult group to engage with and as yet, no patient within this category has expressed any interest.
In an effort to engage with the younger generation and utilise social media, the practice is investigating setting up a Facebook and twitter account.
The practice will continue to seek wider representation by continuing to advertise and promote the PPG in community publications such as the Abbey Action Newsletter.
The PPG is hopeful that wider patient representation will develop as the PPG develops.
Step 2. Method and Process for Agreeing Priorities for the Local Practice Survey
2.1 The Practice is required to describe the process it used to seek the views of the Patient Reference Group in identifying the priority areas for the survey questions i.e via email, website etc.
It was agreed with the PPG to continue to use the GPAQ Survey (Version 3) to gain patient feedback and compare this against previous GPAQ Survey scores for benchmarking purposes.
In addition to the usual access concerns, both the practice and the PPG were concerned about the high numbers of attendees at A&E from the practice. Therefore it was decided to seek further information about this issue from the practice’s patient population. In addition, the PPG felt the survey was an ideal opportunity to encourage patients to join the PPG, therefore 2 additional questions were also included which required a free text response:
Q1 - East Barnwell Health Centre has the highest patient attendance at A&E in the locality. Have you attended A&E in the past 12 months?
YES / NO
If YES, can you please tell us which you decided to go to A&E instead of attending either the Health Centre or the Out of Hours service (based in Chesterton)?
Q2 – The Practice’s Patient Participation Group is a voice (representing patients) regarding health services at the Health Centre and in the community:
a) How do you think the PPG should do this?
b) Would you like to know more or join the PPG? (Please provide contact details)
The survey was advertised on the practice’s website and a hard copy was made available for patients to complete. The practice received 197 responses.
2.2 The Practice is required to list the priority areas and confirm how these match those set out by the PRG
The priority areas are included in the action plan agreed by the PPG and as below:
Step 3. Details and Results of the Local Practice Survey
3.1 The Practice is required to confirm how it determined the questions to be used in the survey?
It was agreed to create a local questionnaire using the tried and tested formula of the GPAQ questionnaire (version 3) together with 2 questions requiring free text responses of areas where further info was required.
3.2 The Practice is required to confirm what method(s) it used to enable patients to take part in the survey? i.e survey monkey, Paper survey, email, website link.
The surveys were handed out to patients periodically as they checked in at reception (this ensured that feedback from patients who had used the services of the practice recently was gathered) over a 2 month period.
Questionnaires were also handed out by nurses and doctors.
In addition, patients who formed the Virtual PPG were contacted via email to request them to complete the survey on line (via the practice’s website).
The practice’s website also asked that all patients registered at EBHC complete the survey and a link was provided to enable patients to complete the survey on line.
3.3 The Practice is required to confirm how it collated the results
Only one patient completed the survey online, the result of which was combined with responses of the surveys carried out in the practice.
The results from the survey handed out at the practice were collated by a member of the practice’s administration team.
The combined responses were then discussed at the November 2012 PPG meeting and published on the practice’s website.
3.4 The Practice is required to confirm the dates of when the survey was carried out and provide a copy of the survey to demonstrate how the Practice has reflected the priority areas in the questions used.
The survey was carried out during the months of September, October and part of November 2012, both in-house and on the website.
The Survey used is as follows:
Step 4.Discussing Survey Results with the Patient Reference Group (PRG)
4.1 The Practice is required to describe how it sought the views of the PRG on the findings of the survey and any proposed changes highlighted from it.
The PPG met on the evening of Wednesday 28thNovember 2012 to discuss the results of the patient survey. Dr Harmer and Phil Jennings represented the practice.
The survey results showed results that were fairly consistent with last year. Patients were satisfied with the service provided by Receptionists with 97% of respondents saying they were helpful and leaving a long list of positive comments. People’s overall experience of EBHC result also increased to 91% of respondents listing it as good / excellent. Patients also showed confidence and trust in the clinical staff with nearly all respondents answering yes to that question. This was again backed up by a range of positive comments.
Contacting the practice - the issue of getting through to someone at the practice on the telephone showed that this can be difficult for patients, which the PPG agreed with. There can often be a long wait at peak times, especially in the mornings, with many people requesting an urgent appointment.
Pre bookable Appointments- booking appointments in advance was also highlighted as sometimes a difficult task. Patients felt they were having to wait too long for a routine appointment and were often unable to book any appointment with their usual doctor. The Practice believes strongly in the importance of continuity of care for on-going medical issues, but it was acknowledged this can be difficult with all doctors working part- time, and registrars joining and leaving the practice at regular intervals. Acute problems may have to be dealt with by another doctor who happens to be available on that day.
Urgent Appointments - survey results showed that 20% of patients felt that they cannot normally be seen on the day if they need a GP urgently. The practice feels the triage system enables 100% of urgent cases to be seen on the same day, whilst filtering out non-urgent problems. The lower result could be because of a difference between patient & clinician perception of what is urgent.
Waiting Times - another discussed issue was the waiting time for appointments when GPs run late. Some patients were clearly unhappy with this and it was felt that receptionists did not always communicate this to patients.
Step 5. Agreeing an Action Plan with the Patient Reference Group (PRG)
5.1 The Practice is required to produce a clear Action Plan that relates to the survey results and attach a copy of the agreed Action Plan for 2012/13.
See attached Agreed Action Plan:
5.2 The Practice is required to confirm how it consulted with the PRG to agree the Action Plan and how it sought agreement from the PRG to implement any changes.
A proposed list of actions was discussed further to the results of the patient survey at the PPG meeting on the 28th November 2012. The final Action Plan was agreed at the PPG meeting on the 30th January 2013.
5.3 The Practice is required to advise whether there are any elements that were raised through the Survey that have not been agreed as part of the Action Plan and if so should outline the reasons why.
N/A
5.4 The Practice is required to confirm whether there are any contractual changes being considered if so please give details, as these will need to be agreed by the PCT.
N/A
Step 6. Publishing the Local Patient Participation Report
6.1 The Practice is required to provide details of where the Local Participation Report has been published (include the link to the Practice website)
A Local Patient Participation Report has been published on the Practice’s website:
A notice has also been placed on the PPG notice board in the practice publicising the report.
6.2 The Practice is required to provide any updates on progress against:
2011/12 Action Plan
See “What did we achieve during 2012” report published on the Practice’s website:
This report was also published on the PPG notice board in the practice.
2012/13 Action Plan
This work is on-going and any updates will be posted on the practice’s website and the PPG notice board within the practice as and when actions are achieved.
In addition the Practice required to provide details of Practice opening hours and how Patients can access services through core hours
6.3 The Practice is required to confirm Practice opening hours and give details on how Patients can access services during core hours (8am-6.30pm)
The Practice is open between 8.30 am and 6.00 pm, Monday to Friday.
The Practice closes for 1 hour at lunch, from 1.00 pm to 2.00 pm everyday but closes at 12.45 pm on Wednesdays to allow time for team meetings. Emergency telephone cover is provided during the lunch break.
To assist patients further, the Practice operates an automated telephone system for pre-bookable appointments 24 hrs a day, seven days a week.
Urgent Care Cambridge is the Out of Hours Provider during non surgery times.
6.4 The Practice is required to provide details of any extended hours provided and details of access to Health care Professionals during this period.
The Practice does not offer extended hours service before 8.30 am or after 6.00 pm, Monday to Friday.