PATIENT PARTICIPATION REPORT 
2013/14

Rise Park Surgery c84129,
Off Revelstoke Way,
 Rise Park, 
Nottingham. 
NG5 5EB

0115 927 2525
www.riseparksurgery.co.uk

GP PARTNERS

Dr M C Jones
Dr M S Salisbury
Dr S J Parker
Dr C J Malone
Dr K E Earis

Dr E L Lacey (GP Retainer)

MANAGERS

Business Manager – Mrs. Julie Harris
Patient Services Manager – Mrs. Jo Hynes

1. An introduction to our practice and our Patient Reference Group (PRG)	

Rise Park Surgery is located to the north of the city of Nottingham approximately 5 miles from the city centre.  The surgery serves the whole of Rise Park as well as areas of Top Valley, Bestwood Village, Warren Hill and Warren Wood.

The surgery has 5 GP partners (3.5FTE) plus one GP retainer and one GP registrar.  The surgery also employs 4 practice nurses (2FTE), 1 Senior Health Care Assistant and 13 administration staff.

The practice population as of 13 March 2014 was 6701 registered patients.  The practice population profile shows a higher number of elderly patients (higher than the NORCOMM average) and chronic disease prevalence is also high especially in diabetes and CKD.

The Patient Reference Group (hereafter referred to as the PRG) was established in 2011.  From the outset we have found it difficult to recruit patients to the group though gradually over the years we have around 15 – 20 members who attend at varying times.  The biggest problem we encounter is the lack of diversity within the group, more of which will be discussed later. 

2. Establishment of Patient Representative Group	

2.1 Profile of the Practice and the Patient Group 

		Practice Population profile	PRG profile	Differences between practice and PRG profiles (%)	
Total number of patients		
6701	
16		
Age
	Under 16	1282	0	     19          0
     10          0
     13          0
     13         25
     14         13
     13         19
     18         43	
	17 – 25	726	0		
	26 – 35	882	0		
	36 – 45	857	4		
	46 – 55	913	2		
	56 – 65	850	3		
	66 plus	1191	7		
					
Sex
	
Male	3204	4	     48        25

     52        75	
	
Female	3497	12		
					
Ethnicity
	White European	4618	12	69      75

5        13

3        6
2
1

0.1
0.1
0.6     6	
	Indian, British Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi & other Asian	338	2		
	Caribbean	214	1		
	African	125			
	Mixed black, white & black African, white & black Caribbean	95			
	Other black	10			
	Other	10			
	Chinese	41	1		
	Mixed Asian and white & Asian
	14			

2.2 Differences between the PRG and Practice Profiles
As previously mentioned in the introduction with regards to the diversity of the group there are variations between the practice and PRG profiles; younger patients and Black, Asian and Chinese patients are underrepresented.  This is something that we have been aware of since the group’s inception in 2011 and we do proactively try and recruit more patients from these ethnic groups.  

2.3 How the practice takes into account other factors when considering the PRG demographics and attendance
Rise Park, Bestwood Village and Warren Wood and Warren Hill do enjoy relatively high levels of employment whilst Top Valley has slightly higher unemployment levels.  Traditionally we have always chosen to meet on a Saturday morning as it was felt that this would then allow patients who worked in the week to be able to attend.  However, we have recently come to appreciate that this may not be such a convenient time for younger patients who want to spend time with their families at the weekend.  Conversely, when we have spoken to patients who we think might be interested in joining they often say they can’t attend on a weekday evening as they may have just got home from work, have children to put to bed etc. 

In the past we have not considered carers as a specific group to target (we have 115 patients registered as carers), however we are planning to run an open evening in June/July in conjunction with the Carers Federation (as one of the educational events referred to in the 2014-2015 project plan) so that may be a good opportunity to capture some new PRG members.

2.4 What the practice does to reach groups that are under represented
Posters are displayed in the waiting room and the patient toilet at the surgery in an attempt to encourage all patients to join and staff (especially reception staff) will try and encourage patients to come along to meetings.  A member of the reception team is usually present at a meeting and most of them have now attended and so are thus well qualified to tell patients what happens and what they are like etc.

If the Patient Services Manager receives a complaint from a patient she will try and encourage them to come along to the next meeting and take details and invite them by letter nearer the time if they agree. 

With regards to targeting the groups of patients that are underrepresented we have starting asking younger patients who ask for work experience (generally because they are interested in medicine as a career) if they would like to attend.  As an aside our policy with regards to work experience is that if the patient is aged between 16 and 18 and studying A’ levels we will refer them to a nearby practice as for confidentiality reasons we are not comfortable letting them be around sensitive data of people that they may know.  This is a reciprocal arrangement and nearby practices may also refer such students to us.  However, we do say to our own patients that they are welcome to join the PRG and point out that it will look good on their application for medical school! 

All staff know to opportunistically ask patients if they would be interested in attending a meeting and/or joining the group although as previously stated we are met with reasons why they don’t want to!

3. Setting the priorities for the annual patient survey	

3.1 PRG and Practice agreement on objectives
At the PRG meeting in September 2013 appointment availability was considered to be the most important aspect of surgery services.  One member of the group advised that ‘we should not try and reinvent the wheel’ so to speak but base the questions loosely around what had been asked in the previous year’s survey; this seemed to be the opinion throughout the group and so we accepted their proposal.  We also added that we would like to ask questions specifically around the triage appointment system and also ask some questions regarding cleanliness in the surgery and patients experience at reception. 

4. Designing and undertaking the patient survey	

4.1 How the practice and the PRG worked together to select the questions.
At the September 2013 meeting the project plan was reviewed and as previously documented the majority of patients felt strongly about appointment availability and that we should ask the similar questions to last year’s survey.  A set of questions was compiled by Dr Margaret Jones and Mrs. Jo Hynes which were then reviewed by 2 of the PRG members.

4.2 How the survey was undertaken
We used the survey tool that is attached to our website to generate the survey.  We have used it in the past and found it to be very good as it is aligned to the website so there is no need to upload separate documents for the questionnaire to be visible to patients.  Another benefit of using this tool is that the collation and analysis is done for us and presented in a format that is clear, concise and meaningful.

In an attempt to try and secure more responses from patients this year we lengthened the period that the questionnaire was in circulation.  We decided that we would release the survey in October to coincide with our ‘Flu Clinic’s’ on Saturday mornings in October and November.  In excess of 500 patients attend the clinics during this time.  The survey was available online and on the reception counter right the way through the winter months until February.  Disappointingly, we still only got 113 responses and even less online this year than last year!

At the flu clinic reasons given by patients for not wanting to complete a questionnaire varied from that ‘we’re in a hurry’ to ‘sorry I haven’t got my reading glasses with me!’  We did encourage patients to take a paper copy of the questionnaire home with them to complete at a later time but it seems that very few were returned. 

4.3 Summary of the survey results

The key results of the survey are as follows:-

•	67% of patients found it fairly easy or very easy to get a routine or prebookable appointment at the times they wanted.  This was an improvement of 3% on last year.
•	63% of patients found it fairly easy or very easy to get an appointment with the GP of their choice however 34% had said they were not able to see the GP of their choice.
•	78% of patients said it was either fairly important or very important to them to see the GP of their choice
•	61% of respondents had said that they did not know what days of the week their GP worked
•	51% of patients found that their issue was resolved following a telephone triage call with a GP
•	59% were asked to come in to surgery to see the GP; 53% of them were the same day and 10% within 3 days and 7% after 3 days.
•	86% of respondents said the surgery was either very clean or fairly clean.  This was down 7% on last year.
•	85% of patients found the receptionists to either be very or fairly helpful.  This was 12% down on last year.
•	79% of patients said they would recommend Rise Park Surgery to family and friends.

5. Analysis of the patient survey and discussion of survey results with the PRG	

Dr Jones and Mrs Hynes reviewed the results of the survey prior to the meeting on 1st March and concluded that whilst some areas had dropped in terms of patient satisfaction from the previous year (which was obviously disappointing) in view of the events of that year regarding GP availability; overall the results were acceptable.

The PRG were invited by letter to attend a meeting on 1st March 2014 primarily to discuss the findings and to make plans for the following year. Ten patients attended and 4 members of surgery staff were also present Dr Margaret Jones (Senior Partner), Mrs Jo Hynes (Patient Services Manager), Mrs Cheryl Farabella (Senior Healthcare Assistant) and Mrs Deborah Lewis (Results Administrator).

At the meeting each question and subsequent finding was discussed in detail.  All attendees had an information pack and were encouraged to participate so that the opinions of all present could be obtained.

A summary of the results has been included in section 4 of this report and a copy of the survey,  the full findings and subsequent discussion with the PRG can be found in appendix 1.  These minutes are contained in the PRG folder that is kept in the waiting room and are also in the PRG section on the surgery website.   

6. Action plan	

6.1 How the practice worked with the PRG to agree the plan
At the meeting on 1st March 2014 the representatives from the surgery discussed the results of the survey and also reviewed the previous year’s plan to ascertain what might need carrying over from 2013-2014 into 2014-2015.  

Some areas did indeed need to be carried over particularly improved patient communications and educational events which had not been met at all.  It was also agreed that a review of appointments should also be undertaken on an annual basis.  

One big area of concern for the patients attending the meeting (and aligned to the above) was the fact that there is a significant amount of new housing planned for Bestwood Village and also a fairly sizeable development for Rise Park which will undoubtedly add pressure to the existing provision at the surgery.

Dr Jones stated that should the development at Bestwood Village be so significant (as has been advertised in the local press, 300+ properties) that there may be a grant/provision made by the developers for a new surgery, the partners at Rise Park would definitely be interested in investigating the viability of opening a branch surgery in the village.

With regards specifically to the new development in Rise Park that borders the boundary of the surgery building.  The main concern would be around noise issues that could affect the work of the doctors and nurses.  If it was excessive this would be raised with the planning department.

6.2. We identified that there were the following contractual considerations to the agreed actions
The idea of opening a branch surgery in Bestwood Village was very appealing both to the Bestwood Village residents present at the meeting but also the surgery staff as it could well be an opportunity to provide a purpose built premises to serve both Bestwood Village patients but also offer more specialist services to the other registered patients who do not live in the village; for example a purpose built minor surgery consulting room.

However, apart from the normal complexities of such a significant undertaking Bestwood Village sits in the County catchment area for health provision and is also within both the Gedling and Ashfield boroughs whilst Rise Park is classed as City for health care provision and also sits within the City boundary. 

6.3 Copy of agreed action plan
Please see appendix 2 for a detailed copy of the 2014-2015 plan however in summary the key areas identified are as follows:-

•	Appointment Review
The Patient Services Manager will conduct a quarterly review of appointment availability (prebookable and triage), DNA numbers and also the current policy plus a review of how we prebook appointments for child immunisations and chronic disease reviews.
•	Improved Patient Communications
The Patient Services Manager will review both the Practice and Complaints Leaflets and also ensure that the information regarding clinician’s usual working days is available. 
•	Patient Educational Events
Dr Jones will organize 2 events during the course of the next 12 months
•	Surgery/premises upgrade
The waiting room at the surgery will be refurbished as will Treatment Room 1.  We will also ensure that the front doors into the surgery building allow access for patients in wheelchairs.  The automation has been fixed to the doors however the original contractor carrying out the works went into administration and subsequent works were halted and safety certificates were not issued.  The CCG are aware of this and we hope that the works will now be completed by March 2015. 
•	Service Expansion
All at the surgery will be aware of housing developments within Bestwood Village.  

7. Review of previous years actions and achievements	

Appointment Review
It is clear to all staff at the surgery that despite making huge changes to the appointments system in June 2012 by introducing a ‘telephone triage system’ for urgent, on the day appointment requests the balance between the two different types of appointments is still not correct and that patients are waiting too long for a ‘routine appointment’. 

It has been documented in the September 2013 minutes but it is worth reiterating here that 2013 was a particularly ‘annus horribilis’ with regards to the personal/family lives of many of our staff and this certainly impacted on appointment availability at the surgery. 

These events affected key clinical staff at the surgery and whilst Dr Earis’s maternity leave was known about and planned for in advance we could not have foreseen that her long term locum replacement would have to leave suddenly and return to his family in the Philippines due to the death of his father. We also could not have foreseen that both Dr Jones and Dr Lacey would be on compassionate leave for 4 months each due to terminal illness within their families.  This resulted in the remaining 3 GP partners being in even more demand than normal along with a myriad of locums who were trying to ‘plug the gaps’! 

Whilst this situation was by no means perfect we are confident that in the circumstances we did the best we could (i.e. we tried to book ‘regular’ locums wherever possible) and we utilized locums wherever possible to fill the gaps. 

Thankfully, the regular GP team has been back in place now since February 2014 and they have rearranged their schedules and appointments in an attempt to offer more routine appointment slots. On average, each GP has approx. 10 more routine slots per week than previously (or FTE).

The GP’s are confident too that anyone who is acutely ill and wishes to be seen the same day will be spoken to and assessed by a GP over the telephone.  In the past this may not always have been the case when the previous system was in place.

It seems that a handful of patients don’t like the new telephone triage system but the majority does appear to.  Therefore, whilst the majority do like it and the GP’s are confident that they are able to consult with the maximum amount of patients who say they need an ‘urgent on the day appointment’ this type of appointment system will continue.

Appointments and the demand for them will continue to be monitored by the GP’s and Practice Management team.

GP Availability (i.e. days of the week worked)
The PRG and the results of last year’s survey had indicated that patients wanted clear and concise information as to what days GP’s were available.  Because of the circumstances described above regarding the long term compassionate and maternity leave of half of the GP team this information has been difficult to obtain.  However, the information regarding GP and Nurses days of work will soon be available on the website and as a ‘leaflet’ at the surgery, and will be displayed on the surgery notice board in the waiting room.

Virtual PRG
Rise Park Surgery had committed to try to properly establish and expand the ‘virtual PRG’ in an attempt to gain the opinion of more patients.  However, it was felt that our efforts would be better concentrated elsewhere especially in view of the fact that very few of our patients completed the survey online which would imply that patients would prefer not to interact with us by this medium.  This is surprising in view of the fact that according to statistics collated by our website provider www.riseparksurgery.co.uk  had 55,490 unique visits in the last 13 months.

Educational Events 
We had committed to deliver 2 educational events over the year and unfortunately we failed to deliver on this for which we apologise.  Dr Jones is the driving force behind this initiative and as already discussed she was away from the practice for an extended period of time last year. The plan for 2014 is to have one educational event in June and one in October.

Patient Newsletter
To date just 1 ‘Rise Park Surgery’ newsletter has been published since the PRG had requested one a couple of years ago.  The surgery accepts that this isn’t acceptable and will aim to produce 2 newsletters per year in April/May and October/November.  Work is already underway for the May 2014 edition.

Technology Enhancements
The PRG told us that they wanted to be able to request prescriptions online as well as book appointments online (i.e. via www.riseparksurgery.co.uk). In January this year Rise Park Surgery moved its clinical system from EMIS which had served us well for many years but was becoming very old, slow and restrictive in terms of new working practices involving technology, to Systmone which is much quicker.  As it is a new computer system it will allow us to deliver on the technology advances that not only the PRG had asked us for, but also what society as a whole is becoming to expect as the norm.

The new system has allowed us to enable the ordering of repeat prescriptions online; this has now been live for approx. 4 weeks.  In January as the new system went live we had an automated arrivals system installed in the reception area so that patients may book themselves in on arrival at the surgery for their appointment rather than waiting for a receptionist to become available.  Both seem to have been very well received by patients thus far.

The new system also allows more use of text messaging to patients and also emails which we hope to utilize more in the future.

8. Publication of the report and opening hours	

8.1 Publication of the PRG Report
A copy of this report will be placed in the following places:-

•	In the PRG folder that is located in the waiting room at the surgery.  A notice will also be placed in surgery advising that the latest report is available for anyone that is interested.
•	A copy of the report will be placed in the ‘Patient Participation Group’ tab on the website.

8.2 Opening Times

Monday					0830 - 1830
Tuesday					0830 – 1930 (extended hours)
Wednesday					0830 – 1830 (closed between 1300 – 1400)
Thursday					0830 – 1930 (extended hours)
Friday						0830 -  1830

The opening times are displayed on the front door of the surgery and also on the website.  They will also be included in the new practice leaflet.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Rise Park Surgery Patient Participation Group Meeting
Saturday 1st March 2014
Minutes

Present:-  Mrs H, Mrs C, Mrs R, Mrs R, Mrs C,  Mrs M, Mrs J, Mr P,  Mr W,  Mr G, Dr Margaret Jones,  Jo Hynes, Deborah Lewis and Cheryl Farabella. 

Following the welcome by Dr Jones and the introductions by all persons present the minutes of the last meeting were reviewed and approved.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the outcome of the recent patient questionnaire and to identify objectives for next year.  At the last meeting the group had asked that this year’s questionnaire predominantly be based on appointment availability. The questionnaire therefore had a number of questions regarding pre-bookable and triage appointments and also a few general questions regarding the patient experience whilst at the surgery.

It was agreed that the format of the meeting should be that we would review the questionnaire and results and then look at the project plans for the current year and 2014-2015.

Mrs Hynes advised that a total of 113 patients responded to the survey.  This result was disappointing as the questionnaire had been circulated for a longer period of time than in previous years.

Question 1 asked patients how easy it was to get a routine/prebookable appointment to which 67% of patients had responded that it had been either fairly easy or very easy.  Whilst the surgery team would have preferred this to have been a higher number of satisfied patients, in view of the amount of upheaval there had been during the summer and autumn of 2013 with regular GP partners on extended compassionate and maternity leave it was felt that this was a respectable figure.  Dr Jones advised that this situation would hopefully become easier as the GP’s have added extra surgeries and thus appointments into their schedules.  Dr Jones also explained that it was a very difficult balancing act in terms of getting the ratio right between pre-bookable and urgent appointments. She was however confidant that acutely ill patients were being seen by a GP on the day because of the telephone triage system that the surgery has in place. 

Questions 2 and 3 asked if patients had been able to see the GP they had wanted to when booking a routine appointment and 63% had said that they had. Dr Jones also added that wherever possible patients would be given a triage call with their usual GP to ensure continuity of care following feedback in previous PPG meetings.  

Question 4 asked how important patient’s felt it was to see a specific GP when coming to the practice and not unsurprisingly 78% had said that it was either fairly or very important. Dr Jones commented that this was also important for the GP’s as they also preferred continuity of care whenever possible especially when patients have long term, chronic conditions.  The GP’s will always try and book patients in with their own GP if possible following a telephone triage call.

Question 5 focused on the punctuality of the GP’s by asking how long after your appointment time do you normally wait to be seen.  Forty seven percent of respondents were waiting longer than 15 minutes to be seen and 6% were waiting longer than 30 minutes to be seen.  Dr Jones stressed that all the GP’s arrive for their surgeries in plenty of time (often well before their surgery begins in order that they can complete paperwork etc).  However, for various reasons a patient may need longer than their allotted 10 minute slot.  Mrs Hynes added that there are signs in surgery advising patients that each appointment is scheduled for 10 minutes and to book a double appointment if they feel that they may need longer than 10 minutes.  There are also notices on the website to this effect.  The GP’s are aware of the findings and did add that wherever possible they do try and run to time.

Question 6 asked patients how they felt about the waiting time when they were in surgery.  Seventy six percent of respondents said that they didn’t have to wait long or that it was a bit too long.  The participants in the meeting all said that they understood that the GP’s did sometimes over run and that they were happy to wait as they appreciated that sometimes they might also need the extra time with the GP. 

Sixty one percent of patients said they still did not know what days of the week their GP worked which was question 7.  This had been an action from the previous year however because of the uncertainty around the availability of GP’s and the extensive use of locums during the summer this information was difficult to publish.   The surgery had experienced a very difficult year with regards to GP availability and as such we had used a lot of locums throughout the summer.  It was also clear around Christmas that Dr Earis’s days of work would be changing once she returned to the surgery following her maternity leave plus Dr Lacey was joining the practice after Christmas and Dr Jones would also be working an extra day.  It was therefore considered best to wait until all of these were finalised until issuing the information.  Mrs Hynes also advised that a new nurse was joining the practice w/c 17 March and once her working days were finalised then the information would be available in a ‘leaflet’ format to take away, as a poster in the surgery and added to the Rise Park Surgery website.  Mrs. Hynes committed to having this information as soon as possible.  

With regards to the telephone triage which was what questions 8, 9, 10 and 11 asked about, the general consensus from the survey was that approximately half of the respondents found that their issue was resolved following a phone call with a GP.  Fifty nine percent of respondents were asked to come in to surgery to see the GP; 53% of them were the same day and 10% within 3 days and 7% after 3 days. The majority of patients present at the meeting were very happy with the triage system, some even citing that it was “brilliant”.  Some meeting participants were still very concerned about the wait for routine appointments which the surgery team committed to review at regular intervals.

We also asked a question about patients being able to overhear possibly confidential conversations at the reception desk or in the waiting room.  Fourteen percent of respondents were unhappy about this.  The surgery acknowledges it is a problem and will put signs up advising that a room is available should patients wish to speak to a member of staff privately.

With regards to cleanliness at the surgery 86% of respondents said that the surgery was either very clean or fairly clean.  This figure was down 7% on last year.  This information would be shared with the cleaning team.  No one at the meeting had any concerns about cleanliness levels at the surgery.

Another question regarding the patient experience asked about interaction with the reception team; 85% of respondents found the receptionists to either be very or fairly helpful.  Also, 79% of patients said they would recommend Rise Park Surgery to family and friends which although is down on last year’s figure of 89% in view of the difficult year we have experienced this was deemed acceptable.  The group members were happy with this level of satisfaction.  

The final questions on the survey asked about patient demographics of the respondent’s.  More women than men had responded and generally patients aged 55+ had taken the time to complete the questionnaire; just 12% of respondents were aged under 44 years of age. 

Following the review of the questionnaire results the 2013-2014 project plan was reviewed.  

The appointment review had been completed as part of the patient questionnaire as per above.  Whilst this is deemed completed for this year it will be a recurring theme as appointment availability will always a contentious issue and as such will be added to the 2014-2015 project plan. Mrs Hynes committed to review the appointments on a quarterly basis.

The idea to advertise the GP days of work/availability for patient information hadn’t been completed thus far as documented previously but would be actioned as soon as possible.

The virtual PPG had yet to get off the ground too.  It was agreed with the meeting participants that as that as the numbers attending the actual meetings were good we would concentrate our efforts on other areas at present.  Mrs Hynes added that now that the new computer system was in place this might make it easier to send out more text messages and emails to patients in the future.

Unfortunately, the educational events hadn’t been organised as yet either.  Dr Jones was very much the driving force behind this initiative and as she had been away for such a long period of time in 2013 it had been postponed to 2014.  Various members of the group suggested subject matters/conditions such as The Stroke Association to Diabetes UK, Terence Higgins Trust and The Carers Association. 

Sadly the promise to produce 2 patient newsletters per year had also failed to be delivered upon.  This would be added to next year’s project plan.

Finally the technology enhancements were discussed now that the new computer system was in place.  The staff present explained that they and their colleagues were still getting used to the new way of working so if patients could just bear with us a little while longer!  However, the facility to book appointments online had been continued, a patient self-arrival system had been added into the reception area and the facility to request repeat prescriptions online was just about to be activated!  As far as patient announcements via the TV screen was concerned we had decided to abandon the TV screen after negative patient feedback and play a local radio station instead by way of ‘entertainment’ and covering up conversations at the reception desk.

There was also much discussion around the planned housing developments at both Rise Park and Bestwood Village.  The Rise Park development will be adjacent to the boundary of the surgery and there were concerns from the meeting participants as to the pressure on services at the surgery and also the impact of noise.  As yet the numbers for the development are unclear so all agreed that the surgery would respond appropriately at that time. 

The plans around the Bestwood Village developments are also still unclear.  According to local press anywhere between 300 and 500 properties could be built in the next few years in the village.  Dr Jones reiterated the surgery’s previous position in that the partners may be interested in opening a branch surgery in the village if the right premises could be found and it was financially viable.

Plans for next year were based around the outstanding items from this year that had not been completed namely patient communications (new practice leaflet, publish the usual working days of the clinicians), publish a bi annual patient newsletter and arrange 2 educational events for patients.  It was also agreed that appointment availability should also be reviewed on a regular basis as the ability to prebook appointments was a concern for all.

Dr Jones also advised that the waiting room and Treatment Room 1 would be revamped within the next 12 months and that the doors into the building would become much easier to access for patients in wheelchairs.  Building works to upgrade the building had started in 2013 however the contractor had unfortunately gone into administration and so it meant that some of the works had been started (i.e. the electric mechanisms and fittings for an automatic front door) but not quite finished.  The Clinical Commissioning Group is aware of this situation and it is hoped that new contractors will be starting in the very near future.  These improvements will be of benefit to both patients and surgery staff.

Finally Dr Jones asked if there was any more business. Mrs M asked about DNA’s and what we were doing about them to which the surgery staff said that persistent offenders were ‘dealt with’! Mrs R added that she thought the triage system was great especially as she had a young child so it provided her with reassurance that she would be seen when needed and also as a working parent she appreciated the appointments on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Dr Jones thanked everyone for attending and for their time and the meeting ended at 11am.  

Rise Park Surgery
Rise Park Surgery Survey 2013 - 2014

Number of Responses: 113
Rise Park Surgery Survey 2013 - 2014
Q1. How easy was it to get a routine/prebookable appointment for the time you wanted? 
Not very easy 					 31%
Fairly easy  					 50%
Very easy 					 17%

Q2. Were you able to see the GP you wanted to see? 
No 						 17%
Did not want a specific GP 			 15%
Yes						 65%
No response 					   3%

Q3. How easy was it to get an appointment with the GP you wanted to see? 
Not very easy     				34%
Fairly easy 					46%
Very easy  					17%
No response					  3%

Q4. How important is it to you that you see a specific GP when coming to this practice? 
Prefer not to say  				  2%
Not at all important  				18%
Fairly important 				36%
Very important  				42%

Q5. How long after your appointment time do you normally wait to be seen? 
I don't normally have appointments at a specific time 		 1%
I am normally seen on time 						 3%
Between 5 minutes to 15 minutes  					38%
15-30 minutes 							47%
More than 30 minutes  						 6%
Can't remember  							 2%

Q6. How do you feel about how long you normally have to wait? 
I don't normally have to wait long  		 46%
I have to wait a bit too long 			 30%
I have to wait far too long 			 5%
No opinion/doesn't apply 			 7%
No response  					 12%

Q7. How well do you know which days of the week your GP is available? 
Very well 					 10%
Quite well  					 17%
Not at all well 					 32%
Not very well                                               29%
No response                                                12%

Thinking of the times when you thought you needed to be seen urgently/on the same day ...
Q8. Did you tell reception that you needed an urgent appointment? 
Yes 						 64%
No 						 21%
No response  					 15%

Q9. If yes, was your issue resolved over the telephone with the GP? 
Yes 						  51%
No 						  23%
No response  					  26%

Q10. Were you asked to come into the surgery to see the GP? 
Yes (please go to question 11) 		 59%
No (please go to question 12)  		 21%
No response 					 20%

Q11. When the GP asked you to come into the surgery was it? 
Same day 					 53%
Within 3 days 					 10%
More than 3 days  				   7%
No response                                                30%

Q12. How clean is the GP surgery? 
Very clean 					 67%
Fairly clean  					 19%
Not very clean  				  1%
Not at all clean  				  0%
Don't know                                                   0%
No response                                                13%

Q13. In the Reception Area, can other patients overhear what you are saying to the receptionist? 
Yes, but don't mind  				61%
Yes and am not happy about it  		14%
No, other patients can't overhear		  5%
Don't know 					 7%
No response 					 13%

Q14. How helpful do you find the receptionists at the surgery? 
Very 						66%
Fairly  						19%
Not very  					2%
Not at all 					0%
No response  					13%

Q15. Would you recommend this surgery to your family and friends? 
Yes  						79%
No  						  6%
No response 					15%

Are you male or female? 
Male 						 30%
Female 					 51%
No response 					 19%

What age are you? 
Under 16 			 0%								
17 - 24 			 3%
25 - 34 			 5%
35 - 44  			 4%
45 - 54  			7%
55 - 64 			11%
65 - 74 			31%
75 - 84  			15%
Over 84 			2%
No response  			22%

What is your ethnic background with which you most identify? 
White British  					73%
White Irish 					0%
Mixed White & Black Caribbean 		0%
Mixed White & Black African 			0%
Mixed White & Black Asian 			0%
Indian  					2%
Pakistani  					0%
Bangladeshi  					0%
Black Caribbean 				0%
Black African 					0%
Chinese 					0%
Other  						0%
No response  					25%

How would you describe how often you come to the practice? 
Regularly  					24%
Occasionally  					46%
Very Rarely  					9%
No response  					21%

 

Appendix 2