Richmond Lock Surgery
Patient Participation Group
Report 2013-14
The Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a forum for our patients to bring their views, ideas and suggestions relating to practice and local healthcare services. The PPG has now been running for a year and aims to meet at least quarterly.
Membership:
The practice continues to advertise for volunteers to join the group on the practice website, patient display screens and posters displayed in the surgery. A more detailed poster is being designed currently and it is hoped a leaflet will also be produced to further help advertise the group.
Patients wishing to join the group are asked to complete an application form and the group Chair contacts them prior to attending their first meeting.
The group currently comprises of 12 patients, in addition to the practice manager & one of the partner’s, who attend for at least some of the meeting.
The group is fairly representative of the practice population, but a concerted effort is continuing to be made to improve the diversity of the group by proactively trying to recruit some younger members, in addition to more men & patients from different ethnicities.
The PPG are also investigating the creation ofa ‘virtual’ group, with the possibility of a‘Skype’ style linkto the meetings, to further encourage a wider selection of patients to be actively involved.
Patient survey:
It was agreed again this year to use the same patient experience survey that the practice has used in previous years. Thishelps maintain continuity and assists the staff & group in tracking the practices’ progress year by year. It also helps in comparingthe practice results with other surgeries nationally.
The survey took place during September 2013, during a period when all clinical practice staff were working, and patients attending the surgery were asked to complete a questionnaire. Some of the questions were answered before the patient’s consultation & the rest were completed following their consultation.
The results of the survey showed that 86% of all patient ratings about the practice were good, very good or excellent.
Posters thanking patients for their participation & confirming the results are displayed in the practice, and a note has also been put on the practice website.
The results of the survey were discussed by the PPG, and also separately bythe practice doctors & staff.
From these discussions the following points were made:
Feedback from doctors & staff:
The doctors & staff felt that this year’s survey results were very good and felt that the practice had significantly improved in the weak areas highlighted last year, for example, telephone access, ability to speak to a doctor and issues with privacy & confidentiality in the reception area.
The practice scored high in the following areas:
- Reception staff
- Telephone access
- Appointment satisfaction
- Speaking to a doctor on the telephone
The practice scored slightly lower in the following areas:
- Seeing a practitioner within 48 hours, but the practice scored above the national mean average
- Seeing the practitioner of choice, but again this was higher than the national mean average
Feedback from the PPG:
The group was pleased to observe that all the practices’ scores were substantially above the national mean % benchmarks. Even question 4 relating to access within 48 hours was above the benchmark.
It was also felt that the feedback from patients indicated a true level of satisfaction with the surgery, doctors & staff.
Action plan:
Appointments:
-The practice continues to monitor and review patient access to appointments and intends adding an extra doctor session each week from 1st April’14.
-The practice will continue to operate a telephone triage system to deal with patients needing to be seen on the same day.
Patient information:
-The practice will continue to develop and update the practice website to improve the dissemination of information about services provided by the practice.
-The practice will continue to use the patient call display system to inform & instruct patients whilst visiting the surgery.
-The patient group will design a more detailed poster, and eventually leaflets, to further help publicise and inform patients about the group’s role within the practice.