Patient Survey Report & Action Plan

Harlequin Surgery

Patient Survey Report & Action Plan

2013 -2014

Introduction

The Harlequin Surgery Patient Reference Group was formed in August 2011. It was originally setup up as virtual Group andcurrently has 49 members.The 3 monthly meeting held at the practice are regularly attended by 12 members.

The Outcomes of our Action Plan for 2012-13 were as follows:

Telephone system –The length of the recorded message has been reduced significantly. The phone lines remain busy during peak periods. On-line appointment bookings have been introduced and approximately 60 patients have signed up to date.

Booking appointments in advance–The number of appointments available to book in advance has increased with the introduction of on - line appointments. On – line appointments can be booked up to two weeks in advance.

Visual Display for calling patients – Currently there is no funding available to implement this service.

Patient Survey – The number of questions asked in the 2013/14 survey was reducedand agreed by the Patient Reference Group.

Patient Reference Group Profiling of itsMembers

As of 31stMarch 2014 we have 49 patients in the Group. This will continue to increase over time See appendix 1 for a break down of patient profiles.

The group is not representative of the practice population. However we will try and address this by continuing to:

Display a notice in reception asking for more members

Advertise the Group using our patient website

Advertise details on the patient display screen in reception

2013 – 2014 Practice Survey

The practice survey was discussed at a meeting on 25th June 2013. It was agreed at the meeting that the survey needed to be short with relevant questions asked. It was agreed that patients need to feel their comments/ responses would be listened to and make a difference.

The survey was discussed again at a meeting held on 8th October 2013. It was agreed that the survey should be kept to an A4 sheet of paper and keep to a minimum the number of questions asked. The group were asked to submit their suggestions for questions before the 18th October 2013.

The questions for the patient survey were agreed at a meeting held on the 17th January 2014. The survey commenced on Monday 3rdFebruary 2014.

See appendix 2 for Minutes of Meetings

The survey agreed by the Group was circulated from the 3rd February 2014 to 14th March 2014both in Practice and on the Practice Website.

712 patients completed the survey which equates to just over 6%of the practice population.

The practice would like to thank the Group for their help with compiling the questionnaire.

Survey Results

The Patient Group met to discuss the findings of the survey on 25th March 2014. It was felt by the Group that on the whole the results of the survey were very positive.

Analysis

A copy of the survey results and an Action plan for improvements have been displayed in reception and published on the Practice Website (See appendix 3 for a copy of the Survey results).

The priority areas agreed as an action plan at the meeting were as follows:

A small number of patients said they would not recommend the Practice to their friends or family. The Group would like to know the reasons why they would not recommend the practice. It was agreed that the next survey would focus on this.

Appointment system – based on comments made it was felt that some patients did not fully understand the appointment system. It was also noted that some patients felt that the information given by reception staff was misleading or incorrect, both areas need to be addressed.

Action Plan

Priority Areas / Action / Review Date / Completion Date
Patient Survey / Run a practice survey to find out the reasons why a patient would not recommend the practice to their friends or relatives / December 2014 / March 2015
Appointment system / Communicate more effectively the appointment booking system to our patients.
Online
Waiting room
Practice Leaflet
Staff training -communicating information to patients / September 2014 / September 2014

Opening hours

The practice core opening hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8.00am – 6.30pm and Wednesday 8.00am– 12.30pm & 2.30pm -6.30pm.

A list of all individual clinicians and their sessions times are available in our practice leaflet and are available from reception or available to view on our website

Badger provide out of hours cover:

6.30pm to 8.00am Monday to Friday

And from

6.30pm Friday to 8.00am Monday

The Practice does not offer extended hours.

Practice Declaration

The Practice confirms that the above report is a true and accurate reflection of the work undertaken as part of the Participation DES.

Signed and submitted to the CCGand published on the Practice website on behalf of the Practice by:

Name:

Signed:

Designation Manager Date:

Appendix 1

Patient Reference Group Distribution Report 31/03/2014

Gender

Ethnicity

Age

Appendix 2

MINUTES

The Harlequin Surgery Patient Representative Group Meeting

Tuesday, 25th June 2013

6pm to 7.15pm

Attendees:
Alvin Follows (Chair) (AF)
Mike Rogers (MR)
Diane Rogers (DR)
Laurie Brunger(LB)
Christine Kendall (CK)
Wendy Loder (WL)
Mr. Canning (MC)
Sharon Dainty (Practice Manager) (SD)
Lorraine Miller (Administration Support) (LM) / Apologies:
Bev Follows
Brian Heath
Jill Grogan
Helen Masefield

AF welcomed everyone to the meeting.

SD introduced LM who is covering for Josie McCutcheon whilst she is on maternity leave and is also providing some support for the secretaries.

Minutes of the Last Meeting

These were accepted as a true record of the meeting.

It was agreed matters arising would be picked up during agenda items.

Out of Hours Surgery

LB explained his reasons for adding this as an agenda item. Out of Hours cover was currently in the news and he was interested in learning what procedures the Harlequin Surgery had to provide this service.

SD explained that previously out of hours cover had been provided by Badger, however, NHS 111 was now being used. The decision to change was made as It was felt that the Practice would have been in breach of its contract if it did not use NHS 111. SD confirmed that she was not aware of any complaints from patients using NHS111.

SD confirmed that on average the practice only had 4/5 out of hours calls or faxes per day, rising to 20/25 at a weekend. Discussions took place around whether the calls were genuine or could be avoided. Most are genuine.

Discussions took place around whether the Practice would consider opting out of NHS111 and providing their own out of hours service. It was agreed demand would not warrant this and SD advised that it could not be done for the practice alone as it was unlikely funding would be provided.

It was agreed that it would be interesting to see if NHS 111 kept patients out of A&E. SD confirmed that a survey/audit would be done at an appropriate time.

On-Line Prescriptions

MR raised concerns that on-line requests were taking longer than 2 days to process. He provided details of a recent experience where it had taken nearly a week to get the prescription requested. He acknowledged that the request may have been delayed due to a bank holiday but this was still outside the 2 days promised.

SD advised that prescriptions go to the GPs for signature/authorisation every morning. She also confirmed that on-line requests are viewed each morning by 3 members of staff and agreed that these should not take longer than those being brought into the surgery.

SD acknowledged that there had been a problem previously with audit trails but that Josie had put new processes in place to ensure that audit trails were now available. It was agreed the system has to work efficiently otherwise patients will not use it.

DR raised concerns about pharmacies collecting prescriptions from the reception desk. Details of an incident were provided where there was a problem which took some time to sort and patients were queuing out of the door.

SD explained the system for pharmacies collecting prescriptions and acknowledged that on rare occasions problems did occur. She also advised that there was an ongoing problem with the electronic patient registration system which did not help the situation (see details under “any other business”).

MC provided details of a problem he and his wife had experienced with regards to the collection of prescriptions. When he recently called to collect a repeat prescription he was told this was not in the Practice but was at the pharmacist across the road. Neither he nor his wife had asked for this service. SD advised this should not happen unless a preferred chemist had been authorised by the patient. She will look at the system and make sure no preferred chemist is registered for MC and his wife. Action: SD to check no preferred chemist registered for MC and his wife.

Past problems with regards to certain chemists ordering items which were not required on prescription were discussed. SD advised that Medicines Management were aware of the problems and had worked hard to ensure this did not happen in future. Any reported incidents are being investigated by them.

Discussions then took place around chemists doing blood pressure readings. Concerns were raised about chemists using this to make money. SD advised that chemists will get paid for doing these tests even without a patients NHS details.

Exhibitions / Seminars

AF requested this item to be on the agenda as he wanted to see if the Practice were interested in doing any exhibitions / seminars. He provided details of events held by the Kingshurst Patient Representative Group. SD believes that some of the Sutton practices also hold such events.

Following discussions it was agreed that these were a good idea and SD will speak to some of the Practice Managers in Sutton about what they do. She will also speak to Kingshurst practice.Action: SD for ascertain details of what other practices provide.

Discussions took place around possible venues for such events. Depending on the size of the event these could be held in the training room at The Harlequin. It was suggested the Group could also look into obtaining funding to hold events at alternativevenues. The possibility of joining with other groups to fund events was also suggested.

Action: AF will send contact details for Kingshurst Practice and their events organiser to SD.

Patient Survey

SD advised that she is starting to think about the questions for the next patient survey and asked for any input / suggestions.

Details were provided of how patients were approached to complete the last survey whilst waiting to see clinical staff. Many patients were not very keen to fill out the form themselves but were happy to answer questions for someone to enter the details for them.

It was advised that Manor Practice in Sutton do a survey on-line and get a very good response.

It was agreed that to be successful the survey needs to be short with relevant questions. Patients need to feel their comments / responses will make a difference.

The question was asked whether it was a requirement that a survey be undertaken. SD confirmed that it was. Following brief discussions it was felt that this was a tick box exercise for the Clinical Commissioning Group and the Patient Reference Group were not sure how much of a voice they actually had. They also all agreed the Clinical Commissioning Group had become too large.

AF provided some brief details of an organisation called Survey Monkey which other organisations had teamed up with to provide surveys. They collect and collate data. SD advised that it was unlikely that Survey Monkey would be used.

It is anticipated that the survey will start in September.

Any Other Business

Patient Reference Group Attendance

Concerns were raised regarding the fact the there appears to be some apathy with group members attending the Patient Reference Group meetings. There are approximately 47 registered members of the group but the same faces turn up to events.

CK said it was disappointing that when apologies were offered these had not been acknowledged at previous meetings. SD advised that this will not be the case going forward.

Discussions took place around attendance at Birmingham Cross City CCG patient representative group meeting. There were approximately 70 people in attendance representing the whole of Birmingham. It was felt that certain things had already been agreed before they were brought up on the agenda. The general feeling was that group members felt they were unlikely to attend future events.

MC provided an overview of his feelings about attending the Harlequin meetings. He raised the point that he did not know who anyone was and that initials were used to discuss various issues which he did not understand. He is unsure what the purpose of the Patient Representative Group is and what they hope to achieve.

SD pointed out that she was not aware MC was attending the meeting and that as he was late the meeting had commenced without him and he had missed the opening formalities where some of his concerns could have been addressed. MC advised that he had replied by e-mail to say he was attending but no trace of this can be found.

SD advised that Minutes of the previous meeting had been sent with the invite and agenda and this should provide some background to what the group were discussing and trying to achieve.

Patients Numbers for “Do Not Attend”

The question was asked whether the notice in the waiting room regarding patients who do not attend appointments has had any impact on these.

SD confirmed that number had not reduced drastically but that patients did find it interesting. She advised that patients who do not attend 2 appointments receive a letter advising them of the Practice policy and that if they miss another appointment they will be removed from the surgery listing. Some patients still do not attend and are surprised when they receive the notification that they are to be removed.

Patient Check in Screen in Waiting Room/Patient Call Display

The automatic check-in screen has not been working for a while now. SD explained the reason for this and advised that a solution is currently being sought. It is likely that a new system will be required which could cost approx £3000.

The benefits of a Patient Call Display system were discussed. SD advised that this type ofsystem would need to go through the clinical system and the cost of this is approximately £5000.

List of GPs Names and Room Numbers

It was suggested that it would be beneficial if patients could seen the names of GPs and their room numbers being displayed in the waiting room. SD will look into this.

Do Not Use Mobile Notices

Josie put these up following a previous meeting and this has reduced the number of people using phones in the waiting room.

Date of Next Meeting

SD asked attendees whether they would like the next meeting to be during the day or on the evening. It was agreed that this should be a day time meeting as moving to an evening had not boosted attendance.

CK advised that if the next meeting is to be held during the day she may be unable to attend due to work commitments. An offer was made to try and ensure the meeting was arranged when she was not working but this could not be guaranteed. This was appreciated.

SD will advise the date and time of next meeting shortly.

MINUTES

The Harlequin Surgery Patient Representative Group Meeting

Tuesday, 8thOctober 2013

12.30pm to 2.30pm

Attendees:
Alvin Follows (Chair) (AF)
Beverley Follows (BF)
Glenys Roach (GR)
Tom Roach (TR)
Louis Radford (LR)
Geoff Canning (MC)
Laurie Brunger(LB)
Mike Rogers (MR)
Diane Rogers (DR)
Sharon Dainty (Practice Manager) (SD)
Lorraine Miller (Administration Support) (LM) / Apologies:
Christine Kendall
Helen Masefield

AF welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.

Minutes of the Last Meeting

Kingshurst Practice

It was advised that the original GPs have gone their separate ways and is currently being run by locum GPs from Solihull CCG. The contract will be available for bids in April. Due to these circumstances SD has not contacted them regarding exhibitions / seminars.

Patient Survey

Discussions took place around how to access patients and encourage them to complete the survey. Details were provided of actions taken last year which resulted in a large increase in returns.

PRG Attendance

Brief discussion took place around lack of attendees for meetings. It was acknowledged there is a problem in getting people to attend. Reminders of meeting times and dates are sent out. Evening meetings have also been tried but do not increase attendance.