It’s Saturday which means it’s time for the practice manager to report on comments left on our Patient Satisfaction Survey and Friends and Family Test. What will this week bring us in insights? What can we learn this week? And how can we translate this into improvements in the service we provide for our patients?
So, without further ado, let’s have a look, shall we?
First a look at the responses to our Friends and Family Test this week:
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
Likely
Can you tell us why you gave that response?
I thought she was very good at her job ,and made me feel at ease
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months?
Yes
What are we doing particularly well?
Just doing a good service
What do you feel we can improve on and how?
Try and improve on people ringing and trying to get though
We are pleased to hear this patient is happy with our services. And the patient touched on the most complained about fact: the difficulty patients have in getting through on the phones. We have some good news regarding our phones. At the moment, we are looking at getting a contract with a different provider. Where this wasn’t possible before as the contract is held by the ICB and not the practice, we will be able to choose our own provider in the foreseeable future. From what we have seen so far about the capabilities of the new system, we are hopeful this will bring significant improvements for the patients and our staff. We will keep you updated as changes occur.
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
Neither likely nor unlikely
Can you tell us why you gave that response?
I think most people’s experience at their GPs has changed over the past 2 years. I recently rang in to get an appointment because I had noticed a lump in my left breast as you can imagine I was quite anxious. The receptionist informed me that I would be contacted once this had been triarged, it was obvious that I needed an appointment but I was left wondering if this would be possible which lead to more anxiety. I know that the appointment system has changed in recent months but this seems extreme.
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months?
No, telephone line have had serious issues.
What are we doing particularly well?
Everyday staff are amazing.
What do you feel we can improve on and how?
Change telephony provider and appointment system.
Although we continuously review our appointment system, the main features of the current system are likely to continue. It has enabled us to ensure that the number of inappropriate appointments and frequent attenders has reduced and the number of patients with a medical need (like the person above), receiving an appointment has increased. We don’t want to lose this improvement. Regarding the phone provider I refer to what has been mentioned above.
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
Extremely likely
Can you tell us why you gave that response?
Doctor is amazing! And the receptionist are so helpful and always gets me and my little boy in
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months?
We’re new to the practice! But it’s the best one I’ve been too
What are we doing particularly well?
Responses!!
What do you feel we can improve on and how?
Nothing really!
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
Extremely likely
Can you tell us why you gave that response?
I’ve always been satisfied with this practise been with them all our family life since dr sramalu was practicing there
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months?
The phoning for appointments in morn as …as u are placed in queue that’s as improved …giving the workers a chance .
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
Neither likely nor unlikely
Can you tell us why you gave that response?
It takes anything upto an hour to get an answer and then there’s no appointments left
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months?
No not really
What are we doing particularly well?
Nothing
What do you feel we can improve on and how?
Everything.
Could have 2 receptionists on for a short while to reduce the queue.
This patient appears unhappy with our services. Hopefully the change in the phone system will bring improvements for the patient.
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment?
Extremely likely
Can you tell us why you gave that response?
Was really worried about mum and spoke to the receptionist about my concerns they managed to get me an appointment to see both nurse and female doctor for mum for the following day after I finished work! We have been made an appointment for further investigations next week at hospital!
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months?
Yes very much so!
What are we doing particularly well?
Listening, acting on and communication with us as a family!
What do you feel we can improve on and how?
Nothing! Both my mum and dad are house bound, I feel I have 100% support from all, doctors, nurses and receptionists!!! Thankyou
And now it’s over to the comments left on the Patient Satisfaction Survey this week.
Appt with Gemma. She was very reassuring and made me feel at ease.
Nurse, was knowledgeable polite and professional
Good service all round
Very happy with this surgery. Having been with Ipswich surgery for many years Grimethorpe surgery is by far the best.
Was not happy about the appointment made at Grimethorpe, when I live in Cudworth and was then late for my appointment
We are sorry we couldn’t provide this patient with a more convenient appointment than the one offered to them. Unfortunately, we have to work with the appointments we have available to us. There will have been no appointments available in Cudworth when the appointment was offered.
Having phoned the GP practice a week earlier and never received a message back until I went back to to Doctors my appointment was fairly quick, I was disappointed as I have used these doctors all my life, that no one messaged me back on the first time of phoning, when I went into the doctors I have to say the receptionist was very apologetic.
We are really sorry to hear this. Either human error or a computer failure likely led to this problem. It should nevertheless not have happened and we apologise for this error. As practice manager, I will speak to the reception team again to hopefully avoid this from happening again.
Excellent experience, got the information I was looking for
Full appointment was really good, ran on time, GP was really nice and friendly and explained everything really well. Only downside to the experience was having to wait several months for the appointment and having to chase it up every few weeks before receiving the date. But other than the wait, I was really happy with everything on the day.
We are not sure what happened here exactly. It is not a common occurrence that patients will need an appointment arranged with a doctor in advance. The majority of our appointments with the doctor are on the same day.
Hard trying to get apointment, also waiting for answering your phones then being told no apointments
The number of appointments we have available is limited. This is why we use our current system, to ensure that those patients who really need an appointment are more likely to receive one. However, the waiting times on the phones continue to be longer than we wish them to be and may have increased with the new system. Hopefully the new phone system we are looking into will help to reduce the waiting times. This will, however, not increase the number of available appointments.
On the morning of the appointment, it took 83 attempts before being connected…I kept getting the engaged tone.. I have to say that once I got through, the person I spoke with was very good and an appointment was made for the sane day.
It was better seeing my own GP in person than being sent to iheart
i-Heart is an extension of general practice. When our capacity is full, we can refer patients to i-Heart to ensure they can receive same-day care where this is needed. Yes, most people want to see their own GP. But it is better to be seen by i-Heart the same day than it is to wait until your own GP becomes available when it is an acute or urgent problem.
15/20 minutes past appointment time as nurses pushed in front to speak to doctor. Didn’t think the attitude of doctor was very fitting. Didn’t seem to care on my last few visits and this one was the same. Made to feel like I didn’t deserve the appointment and wasn’t really interested. This surgery has fallen way down considering I have been a patient there for around 30 years.
We are sorry to hear this patient’s experience with the surgery was not as they expected. When a nurse ‘pushes’ in front of a patient to see a doctor, this is generally for an urgent and important reason and not because the patient is deemed to be ‘undeserving’. All our patients are important and deserve the best care we can provide them with. However, where there is an urgent problem that needs resolving, this should always come first.
I was a the surgery for blood test and in a lot of pain but the nurse Mandy got me the help I needed asap and I can’t thank her enough for that . as for the surgery in general it is improving and hopefully will get back to its pre COVID excellence
All good, no problems. Well done
I rang the surgery from 759am it took 255 times to get through to then at 825am i was number 5 in the queue then after 35 minutes i was number one in the queue. My sick note should have been from the 13th january not the 9th jan as it over laps my first sick note dated from 22nd december 2023 till 12th january 2024. Could this be rectified.?
Our Patient Satisfaction Survey is not a way to request medical assistance or ask about administrative matters. That is what our online consultations are for. Using the online consultations to request an extension of a fit note could have saved this patient a lot of stress and aggravation. Our online consultations are great for these situations and would have saved the patient dialing several times and waiting in the queue. To access our online consultations, click here. (not suitable for urgent problems, please contact NHS111 instead or phone the surgery).
Regarding the overlap of the fit note. This is not a problem. As long as all days the patient has been off are covered, this is fine.
I was booked for a blood test, not any consultation with GP or health professionals..
Is such questionnaire relevant for blood test?
We value the view of all our patients, not just those who have seen a GP. We welcome your feedback on your experiences with the practice and how we could improve our services further.
I was in for a blood test and wanted an appointment with the doctor but I couldn’t get an appointment over the counter while I was sat in the waiting room I tried ringing the surgery I made 89 phone calls every one said line busy how am I supposed to get an appointment
Although we realise how frustrating this must be, we do not allow people to book or request appointments over the reception desk. We wish to maintain the patient’s confidentiality, and if we allow people to request appointments over the desk anyone in the waiting area can overhear what they say. We are working hard to improve our phone lines and hope to have a better system in place in the foreseeable future.
Doctor Lannon organised the necessary tests for my symptoms promptly, he had advised further checks/tests for 3 months time. I was very happy with the response after contacting Grimethorpe Surgery.
Unable to contact surgery via phone again, tried messaging service via website giving symptoms. Several hours later received text advising to call iheart. No explanation as to why I wasn’t given an appointment that or the next day. Not sure how there were no appointment available given phones weren’t working for 2 days and unable to make appointments in person at surgery. Unsurprisingly no availability via iheart.
While our phones were out of action, a lot of patients used the online consultations. We received over 70 requests in the morning alone. Appointments were booked based on these requests. This was why the appointments were all used already. When we refer our patients to i-Heart, this means our capacity is full and we have no more appointments left.
I was very satisfied with the service I received
And those are the comments left on our Patient Satisfaction Survey this week. Again a mixed picture of happy and unhappy people, although most appear happy with our services. Our focus should be on the phone system at the moment and we are working hard on this.
We are thanking everyone who has taken the time to fill in our survey, your time and effort are very much appreciated.
