Doesn’t Saturday come along quickly? Before we know it, the week has ended, we have a brief period of relaxing (and catching up with the housework), and it’s back to work again on Monday. And, since it’s Saturday again, it’s also time to report on the comments left on our Patient Satisfaction Survey and our Friends and Family Test. Remember, you are always welcome to tell us what you feel about our service. And, don’t forget, we are also preparing for a new telephone system and your views on the current system and what you would like to see in the new system are also very welcome.
As a reminder here are the links to the different surveys we are running:
- Patient Satisfaction Survey: https://www.grimethorpesurgery.nhs.uk/information/patient-information-and-support/we-welcome-patients-feedback-on-their-experiences-with-the-practice/patient-satisfaction-survey/
- Friends and Family Test: https://www.grimethorpesurgery.nhs.uk/friends-and-family-test/
- Telephone System Satisfaction Survey (your view on the current system): https://www.grimethorpesurgery.nhs.uk/information/patient-information-and-support/we-welcome-patients-feedback-on-their-experiences-with-the-practice/telephone-system-telephone-access-survey/telephone-system-access-satisfaction-survey/
- New Telephone System Features Survey (your view on which features you would like the new system to have): https://www.grimethorpesurgery.nhs.uk/information/patient-information-and-support/we-welcome-patients-feedback-on-their-experiences-with-the-practice/telephone-system-telephone-access-survey/have-your-say-on-which-features-you-would-like-to-see-in-a-new-telephone-system/
Your input and views are much appreciated.
Now without further ado, let’s have a look at the comments our patients have left on the Patient Satisfaction Survey and the Friends and Family Test.
Comments left on the Patient Satisfaction Survey:
My appointment was a scheduled one with the nurse and she couldn’t have been more helpful.
Saw Jackie, very helpful and given lots of advice
Jackie was very kind, polite, informative and a good listener. The time during the appointment was very well spent with good help and advice resulting in a trial of ceasing one medication for one week due to the side effects. Jackie was very approachable, made me feel at ease and in no way rushed the appointment. Thank you.
I was called to the clinic for my yearly check up. I don’t come to the clinic because of the hassle of getting an appointment, relying on paracetamol and rest.
I contacted the practice Tuesday and was sent an accrux link which I found very stressful, trying for well over 18hrs to access the system. Eventually I got through the following day when only two appointments were available, and not with the GP I’d requested.
I contacted the practice Wednesday morning asking if I could change the appointment to my preferred practitioner. I was told I’d have to ring in the afternoon and go through the whole triage system again. Which I did, and thankfully Jackie Spencer agreed to see me the following day.
I saw Jackie and was very pleased with the visit and outcome. I did cancel the other appointment arranged through accrux. The accrux system is very frustrating and stressful. I don’t know how anyone without access to modern technology is expected to cope. Trying to access gp services these days is stressful and makes me anxious, rather than being improved the system is getting worse.
We are sorry to hear the above 2 patients found the system difficult to navigate and even stressful. Unfortunately, the pressures on primary care these days are such that we need to use our resources as best we can. This means we won’t always be able to offer an appointment with the preferred clinician, at the preferred site or at the preferred day or time. Instead, we will need to offer what we have available. Providing the patient with a self-booking link via AccuRx offers our patients some say in when and where they will be seen. If patients are unable to use the self-booking link this can be because of a number of reasons:
- The available self-book appointments the link leads to have already been used
- The user has difficulty in navigating the system – in this case, please speak to a receptionist
While I know it’s important for you to ensure patients are seen appropriately and that value for money is a key consideration the long delays on the phone to facilitate a triage process are irritating and I have frequently given up on calls due to constraints on my time. Can there be a return to booking appointments online please.
Unfortunately, if we would enable online booking, this would make it impossible to do an assessment of need to ensure patients are seen appropriately. For this reason, we feel it is not a real option currently. However, we are preparing for a new phone system which should improve the accessibility to the practice via the phone. The only appointments we consider could be online bookable are certain appointments with the nurse. History has also shown that sometimes patients will book an inappropriate appointment and it would increase the already excessively high workload of our staff significantly if they would need to check the validity of every online booking. For example, we once had a patient book for a cervical smear with a GP in a telephone slot. (GPs don’t do cervical smears and it isn’t possible to do this over the phone either)
Only suggestion I can make would please change the music on your answering service I love classical music but the current music you have on the phone service is dreadful .
Unfortunately, our current phone system only provides us with 4 choices of music. The current one is the best of the worst. The new phone system comes with more choices and we hope to find something more patients will find acceptable.
I had previously had to ring 111 as I couldn’t get an appointment and was very unwell. This was another appointment after that.
We are sorry to hear we couldn’t offer this patient an appointment when he was unwell. Fortunately, when our capacity for appointments is reached, there are other services available to find the help needed. These are iHeart, walk-in centres, urgent care centres, NHS 111 (which can also provide advice on which service is the correct one), Pharmacy First, and where it is an emergency, A&E or 999.
I was originally booked a GP appointment but only needed a nurse appointment for blood and BP check. The nurse was really friendly and helpful, she took time to explain about my BP readings and was very reassuring and caring and understanding.
I am on dialysis 3 days a week at Barnsley which means I have to juggle appointments.
It would be oh so nice and convenient if someone at the practice answered the TELEPHONE
We’re afraid the problem isn’t with someone not answering the phone but with the number of calls trying to get through. Although our reception team is hard-working, they are only human and can only answer one call at a time. They answer the phone near enough non-stop. Hopefully, the new system will improve the accessibility to the practice via the phone.
My doctor is as always friendly. Advisable approachable and tells me his opinions on issues should i ask. He and his staff look after me as i enter my older years.
And that concludes the comments left on our Patient Satisfaction Survey this week. Time to now look at the Friends and Family Test results.
Friends and Family Test:
| 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? | Amazing surgery always happy to help |
| Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months? | Yes of course all you are doing is amazing |
| What are we doing particularly well? | Ignoring negative people |
| What do you feel we can improve on and how? | Keep doing what your doing well |
| 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? | It’s not often I use the GP practice and when I do it’s because that is my only option rather than using other services available. I was so grateful for the understanding from staff about my concerns for my mum and felt they went above and beyond to give my mum what she needed at short notice. Dr Ali was wonderful much appreciated his actions in investigating my mum’s ailment with a speady resolve and treatment plan put in place. |
| Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months? | I’ve never had any issues with the practice always happy to help isxwhat I’ve always found when I’ve needed to use the surgery. |
| What are we doing particularly well? | The receptionists both face to face and over the phone listened to my concerns which were promptly dealt with and resolved. I feel they’re all welcoming and approachable to speak to regarding any problems I have and do their upmost to direct patients in the right direction of care needed. |
| What do you feel we can improve on and how? | Carry on as you are! You all do an amazing job |
And that completes the feedback we have received on our Patient Satisfaction Survey and the Friends and Family Test. We are pleased to find most patients are happy with our service and most improvement suggestions lie with the phone system (which we agree with). Thank you for taking the time to share your views with us. Where our patients suggest improvements, we will consider the suggestions. Not all suggestions will be taken forward and used, but all will be considered and may lead to a slightly different improvement. Your effort in sharing your views with us is much appreciated.
