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Patient Survey
Patient Survey 2008
Each year the Practice undertakes a nationally approved survey called the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ). The survey allows monitoring of patient satisfaction with the care they receive and allows the opportunity for patient feedback. Every member of the practice team strives to offer a high standard of care to our patients and the questionnaire responses are very helpful in future planning.
The questionnaires were distributed over a four-week period from 4th September 2008. 76% of questionnaires (163) were returned completed. We would like to thank all the patients who took part in the survey.
The GPAQ assessment comprises questions covering a range of patient care topics. These include access, receptionists, continuity of care from doctors and nursing staff, communication and overall satisfaction with the practice. Each question is given a score on how well or bad a patient perceives services at the practice to be. At the end of the questionnaire patients have the opportunity to record their own comments, whether it is praise or criticism of the service they receive.
2008 Patient Survey
In the 2008 survey of the 19 critical assessment areas:
- 53% were rated very good to good
- 41% were rated good to very good
- 5% were rated fair to good
- 1% was rated poor to fair
- None were rated very poor to poor
Patients were also asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the practice on a 7-point scale from “completely dissatisfied” to “completely satisfied”. In response to this question:
- 42% responded that they were completely satisfied
- 49% responded very satisfied
The highest rated assessment area was how well the doctor puts the patient at ease with 46% of patients reporting an excellent level of satisfaction. This was closely followed by 45% of patients reporting satisfaction with doctor’s caring and concern and 44% of patients reporting satisfaction with receptionists. The lowest rated assessment area was patient satisfaction with availability of a particular doctor, although 9% reported being able to see a particular doctor on the same day and 46% being able to see any doctor on the same day as requesting an appointment and 23% being able to see a particular doctor within 2 working days.
In the 2007 survey, of the 19 critical assessment areas:
- 53% were rated good to excellent
- 42% were rated good to very good
- 5% were rated fair to good
- None were rated poor to fair
- None were rated very poor to poor
Overall satisfaction with the practice was rated:
- 36% reported they were very satisfied
- 49% reported being completely satisfied
In the 2007 survey, the main area of concern was with waiting times at the practice. In this year’s survey, of the 162 responses to this question 17 responses were “excellent”, 39 “very good”, 47 “good” and 51 “fair”, with 8 “poor” responses. These responses have moved the benchmark rating up 3 points on last year. Delays cannot always be avoided due to emergencies and other unforeseen circumstances and reception staff endeavour to keep patients updated and aware of any such problems at all times.
In response to the 2007 patient survey, extended surgery hours were introduced in May 2008 with a late evening surgery on Wednesdays and an early morning surgery on Friday mornings from 7.00am, for routine pre-bookable appointments with a doctor. In this year’s survey responses to the question “What additional hours would you like the surgery to be open?”
- 29% replied weekends
- 13% replied evenings
- 1% replied lunchtimes
- 7% replied early morning
- 50% of patients replied they were completely satisfied with the opening hours
The Medical Centre is now open for a total of 55 hours each week. It would appear from some of the comments received that some patients are unaware of the extended surgeries. However, the surgeries have been advertised via the waiting room, practice leaflet, practice patient newsletter, village newsletters and the practice web site, and reception staff have also made patients aware of the facility. Uptake and attendance of these appointments is closely monitored and audited.
Once again, general comments received from patients were extremely positive. However, whilst there is generally great praise for the convenience of the on-site dispensary a few patients were inconvenienced by the dispensary closing at lunchtime. On review, the dispensary now remains open all day, as does reception, with patients being able to collect and order medications even during extended surgery times.
National Benchmarks
National Benchmark figures are compiled from the data collected from more than 1000 UK general practices taking part in the GPAQ. The benchmark figures allow Greens Norton Medical Centre to be placed within a national context. This year three assessment areas were rated as being above the national benchmark (>10)
Of the three areas rated as being significantly above the national benchmark (>10) in 2008, Q8a and Q8b are the same as reported in the 2007 survey and Q5b, “satisfaction with availability of any doctor” scoring 3 points higher than in 2007, this being due to careful monitoring of appointments and either extending the number of available face-to-face appointments or adding extra telephone consultations to meet demand. Significantly, all of the assessment areas scored either higher or remained the same as 2007. Overall satisfaction with the practice scored 86 in 2007 and 88 in 2008.
No assessment area was rated as being below the national benchmark figures. Overall, Greens Norton Medical Centre has maintained it’s position above the National Benchmark. Please ask at reception if you wish to view this year’s results or click here to view a PDF of the document.
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