PATIENT REFERENCE GROUP INFORMATION TEMPLATE 2013/2014
Gants Hill Medical Centre
63/65 Ethelbert Gardens
Gants Hill Ilford
Essex IG2 6UW
TEL: 0208 550 3740 – FAX 0208 550 4300
Patient Group Profile – Mix of multi ethnic and different age and gender groupPatient Profile / Number / % of
Total / PRG Profile / Number / % of Total
<17 / 1649 / 21% / <17 / 4 / 2%
18 - 24 / 436 / 6% / 18 - 24 / 21 / 10.5%
25 - 39 / 2364 / 30% / 25 - 39 / 57 / 28.6%
40 - 64 / 1726 / 22% / 40 - 64 / 52 / 26.1%
65+ / 1206 / 15% / 65+ / 55 / 27.6%
Background – Patient Reference Group:-
In compliance with the guidance offered by Direct Enhanced Services (DES) England (2011) for GMS Contract 2013/14, we have had a very successful Patient Participation Group since 2007 and they have provided some very good ideas and assisted with practice development over the years. We have also raised money for several charities including British Heart Foundation, MacMillan Nurses and Marie Curie, which has provided patients with an open day to meet the staff and members of the group. We have invited various MP’s, the Police and Age Concern to speak at our meetings and advise services they can provide to our patients. We also provide our patients with a PPG newsletter every quarter, with interesting information about the practice developments, seasonal interests ie flu season and any other information we think would be useful ie local pharmacy openings, important telephone numbers, when to call out of hours, we also feature a different member of staff each quarter. We are a member of the National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP.)
The Aims and Objectives:-
The aims and objectives of the PRG is to widely reflect patient involvement in the following areas:-
· Patient involvement in decisions about the range and quality of services provided.
· To act on the view of patients
· To publish the outcome of engagement and views of patients on the internet.
Over the past 2 years we have identified unrepresented patient groups as follows:-
a) White British aged 16 – 25
b) Asian patients aged 21
c) Housebound Patients
d) Learning Disability Patients.
e) Virtual group via E-mail, SMS and NHS choices and My Health London Websites.
We wrote to these groups, emailed them, texted them, advertised on posters in the surgery and attached flyers to prescriptions and letters. We had no response from the groups, except the learning disability group, whose carers phoned to say they were not able to take part.
Therefore, from previous experience of selection of ethnic minority and disadvantaged groups, we felt that recruiting similar groups will not provide adequate responses. To overcome this difficulty we felt it was appropriate to engage the PPG group for wider selection in the survey.
We held our initial meeting with the PPG group on the 6th August 2013 when we discussed the questions for the survey. It was agreed to use the same format as last year. With the help of the PPG we started our survey in November 2013. Members of the PPG came into the practice and handed out survey forms to the patients. Total surveys collected 199 with the different age groups as follows.
Positive Results
<18 18-24 25-39 40-64 65+ No Age Total %
- Are you happy with the appointments 2 13 37 28 29 4 113 57
system?
- Do you feel you can get an appointment 2 10 33 27 29 4 105 55
in a reasonable time?
- Would you like to be able to book online? 2 13 47 27 21 5 115 58
- Are you happy with the services provided? 2 7 25 28 31 6 99 50
i.e. Wart clinic/Diagnostics/ECG
- Do you know the practice has a Patient 1 3 24 30 23 7 88 44
Participation Group?
- When you telephone the surgery do you 1 3 17 14 14 4 53 27
get through the first time?
Negative Results
<18 18-24 25-39 40-64 65+ No Age Total %
1. Are you happy with the appointments 2 4 19 23 26 7 81 40
system?
2. Do you feel you can get an appointment 2 7 23 23 28 7 90 45
in a reasonable time?
3. Would you like to be able to book online? 2 4 9 25 33 6 79 45
4. Are you happy with the services provided? 0 4 12 3 11 3 33 17
i.e. Wart clinic/Diagnostics/ECG
5. Do you know the practice has a Patient 2 14 32 22 35 2 107 54
Participation Group?
6. When you telephone the surgery do you 3 14 39 38 42 5 141 71
Get through the first time?
Survey Findings:-
It is encouraging to see that 57% of the patients are happy with the appointment system and equal number of patients feel that they can get an appointment in a reasonable time. It was a surprise to note that 58% of patients are interested to have access to online booking and this year the numbers have increased in the over 65 year groups to show a positive response for online access. It is noteworthy that presently the usage is approximately 5% for online services and the demand is becoming increasingly popular. We ultimately aim to increase capacity to match demand.
50% of patients are happy with services provided by ECG/Diagnostics/Wart Clinics. Bearing in mind patients who are aware of these services, quite a significant number of patients did not reply to the question, probably due to lack of awareness.
PPG awareness was also split equally with 54% of the patients not being aware of its existence and 44% being aware. However, there is an improvement from the previous year, when the lack of awareness was 64%.
71% of patients were not able to get through on the telephone the first time, however, this was felt to be of high expectation.
The Survey was presented to the PPG on 4th February 2014, where discussion took place and members asked for a Bar Chart to be provided for easier clarification of numbers and percentages. This was provided and further discussion took place at a meeting held on the 4th March and the following action plan has been proposed:-
Minutes of Meeting 4th February 2014 Minutes of Meeting 4th March 2014
ACTION PLAN
Access
The appointment system has been reviewed and we have now introduced an emergency clinic every morning for on the day bookings only. This is run by a different Gp every day, we also have provided several more emergency evening appointments. We have regular opportunities on staff training and effective triage, as we aim to promote greater understanding in the reception team regarding patient perspective and requirements. We believe to work in partnership with our patients and, therefore, encourage them to use the services appropriately, this is done by greater understanding of their health needs and timely use of the appointments. We have a policy for patients that do not attend appointments on a regular basis. As we are aware not all patient contact is exclusively dealt with by the doctor, we have made additional appointments with the nurses and health care assistant.
1. Online Access
Patients that have used the service, find it very easy to use, you can book anytime day and night. However, other patients prefer to speak to some one on the phone. This is really a personal choice. You can also order prescriptions online.
2. Diagnostics
Patients who have had an ECG at the surgery or who have attended the wart clinic will be aware of this service, however, all patients should be made aware of the services we offer. We are going to advertise in the surgery and on NHS Choices, My London Health websites and the Practice Leaflet. Maybe the question in the survey was not clearly worded, therefore, patients did not clearly understand.
3. PPG
The results of the survey have brought about further discussions with the members regarding how to make more patients aware of their organisation and have decided to hold an open/awareness day. This has been organised for the 19th June 2014, with a vast amount of activities in the planning. Also inviting other agencies to participate and make patients aware of other health/social agency available. Posters/Flyers have been designed to promote in the surgery. Adverts will also be placed on prescriptions and flyers attached to letters etc. (see attached documents re Open Day preparation)
4. Telephone
Since the survey last year we increased the telephone capacity by doubling the lines however, the demand seems to increase day by day. We have this year allocated the 4 lines into reception as incoming lines only with no access to dial out, therefore, utilising these lines to their maximum. Mobile phones are used for out going calls only, again minimising the usage of lines. We have had no end of problems with our telephone system and are still disputing the service with our provider. Regarding the telephones, the Chairman of the PPG has taken a keen interest in the telephone system and is planning to have a meeting with our providers. This is the difficulty faced by all practices reflecting the huge demand.