Hagley Surgery Questionnaire
We received back 109 survey results and were able to set ourselves actions in response to where the patients felt there was improvement needed. We were also able to see where we are performing well and the areas that patients rated highly. In this report you can see the results from all questions that were asked as well as any individual patient comments we received. There is also information on any actions we have taken since receiving the surveys.
Survey Results
From looking at these individual results we have been able to group them in to 2 areas and see how our patients feel about the service we offer as a whole and also how they rate the practitioners within the practice. Please see below for a clearer look at these combined areas.
Overall Impression of the Practice
Overall Impression of the Practitioners
It is extremely positive to see how our patients rate the practitioners at Hagley Surgery with 94% of the patients finding them very good or good. Less than 0.05% of the responses came back to be poor or very poor which shows the service we are providing is excellent.
Where we have identified some improvements to be made is in the actual delivery of the service. We have been working hard since receiving these surveys to ensure we improve in the areas that have more poor/very poor responses. Although there were only 9% of the responses that showed a poor/very poor result, combined with the fair responses this equalled just under a third. This shows that we had some improvements to make. As a practice, and working closely with our Patient Participation Group we decided on 4 main actions to take forward. Below is a breakdown of these actions and how we have improved on them.
Actions
1) Opening Hours
There were a number of patients who stated that our opening hours are poor. Although this was a small proportion we still feel it is an area we will be looking at in the near future to improve the access to the surgery for a longer period of time. This will not only give the patients an improved service but would also give us the opportunity to offer more GP appointments
2) Opportunity to speak to a Doctor/Nurse on the phone
This was potentially our greatest area for improvement with around 45% of the responses showing there was a difficulty in speaking to a practitioner. We now make sure that there is ALWAYS a Doctor on call at the surgery during opening hours. This Doctor is there to see, speak to or visit patients that have an urgent on the day medical complaint. This has meant that we have been able to offer a greater service to our patients that require urgent appointments as well as those who just need to speak to a GP.
3) Length of time to see the Doctor of your choice
This is an area we are trying to improve all the time. We are offering more appointments per day than we previously did which means more appointments with specific Doctors. There are also designated same day and next day appointments with all of the Doctors that have clinics. This means that there will be regular opportunities to see your preferred GP without having to wait several weeks.
4) Time spent waiting before an appointment
Over 50% of our responses showed that the waiting time prior to an appointment is either fair or poor. We have worked hard on improving this by trying to offer a greater amount of appointments as well as managing these appointments better. For example, if we can see that a specific appointment is going to be dealing with a more complicated complaint then we will try to extend the time so that it doesn’t impact on other patients. We also put on regular clinics to manage our patients with specific medical needs. This includes a weekly diabetic clinic as well as the opportunity of a nurse specialising in Asthma or COPD.
Another improvement to our waiting time has been the addition of a permanent on call doctor, as discussed in the previous action. It has meant that were previously clinics were potentially over filled with urgent appointments these can now be managed by the Doctor on call. This has meant the other GPs can concentrate on the patients that already have pre-booked appointments.
Finally we would like to thanks everyone that left comments with their questionnaires. We have included some of these comments below and responded where necessary.
Positive Comments
“Cannot fault your service”
“Excellent Surgery, friendly staff and great Doctors”
“The Nurses are very clear and caring”
“No concerns – overall very pleased with the service”
“Reception staff good”
“Some of the GPs are fantastic”
“Jenny – Prescriptions – Most helpful”
“It is quite clear that the practice is under enormous pressure and barely able to cope. Despite this everyone is doing a tremendous job”
“A very busy surgery – always able to see me or my family when it is urgent”
“Generally very good”
“Excellent care offered”
“Service usually very good”
“We enjoy very good care from our doctors and receptionists – and time is always available for more serious issues when needed”
Negative Comments
“Would like a Saturday morning surgery”
RESPONSE: We are actively looking at ways to increase our opening times.
“Difficult to book short notice to see Dr Richards or Dr Evans”
RESPONSE: More efforts being made to offer both same day and next day appointments for all GPs.
“It would be good to have a dermatology nurse”
RESPONSE: the surgery is always looking to expand the services we can offer our patients.
“If I want a second opinion, it doesn’t happen”
RESPONSE: This has now improved greatly with the On call Doctor being available all day – everyday to deal with urgent / on the day problems.
“Everyone tries to ring for an appointment at 8am – any way of dealing with that”
RESPONSE: Online service has been introduced to help ease the pressure on telephone appointments.
“Can’t speak to anyone in an emergency”
RESPONSE: This should now be a lot easier due to the Doctor on call.
“Availability of appointments would improve with more Doctors”
RESPONSE: There has been an increase in available appointments now as well as regular on the day availability.
“After hours and weekends can be difficult”
RESPONSE: Will hopefully be able to offer greater availability in the future.
“I have made contact with the surgery for a same day appointment – unfortunately only sub standard GPs available”
RESPONSE: All GPs now cover on call clinics providing regular on the day appointments where needed.
“Spending too long waiting for appointment”
RESPONSE: An increase in appointments as well as more on the day availability has improved surgery waiting times.
“What do we do for weekend emergencies”
“More appointments needed for your own GP”
“The prescription service could be better”
“Some Doctors want to just get on to the next patient”