The results from our Patient Satisfaction Survey
Help us to improve our services
It’s Saturday again. We suspect there may be quite a few comments be waiting for us this week as we missed last week because the practice manager was on annual leave.
Before we get started, we have some exciting news to share.
We have received a date for our new telephone system to go live!
The new provider will be installing the new system on Monday 12 August, and the new system will go live on 13 August. We are now very busy in the preparation for the installation of the system and which bells and whistles it should have. If you want to have your say in how the new system is set up, you’ll need to be quick. Please share any feedback on our current system in our surveys here: 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/
And now it’s time to look at the comments left over the last 2 weeks.
As always an absolute pleasure to speak with Dr Maters. He is so friendly but professional and I came away reassured that my medical needs will be met
The appointment that is covered in this survey was very good but I have some additional feedback. I would like to be able to have a blood test at my GP surgery rather than having to go into Barnsley
We are aware that many of our patients would like to be able to have their blood tests (requested by the surgery or by the hospital) done at the surgery. Our patients may not be aware of the following issues relating to blood tests at the surgery:
- We currently have reduced capacity for nursing team appointments because of staff sickness and one of our nursing associates being away at university to do the top-up to become a registered nurse. This means we have to look at the services we provide and which services are most important for our patient’s health and well-being to be put first.
- Blood tests are not part of the GP contract, this means the practice receives no payment for these. This means they actually pay for patients to have blood tests out of their own pocket as the staff still needs to be paid for the time they spend doing blood tests.
- Hospital blood tests are also not part of the GP contract, again this means the practice would pay for the nurse’s time while not being reimbursed for the time and effort.
Once our capacity returns to normal, we will reassess the situation, but we may still feel unable to offer routine blood tests at the surgery at that stage.
I saw Jackie yesterday after requesting to see her from a blood test appt last week. Jackie was so helpful in her advise and very informative on what I was changing to. Menopause is tough and she has so much knowledge and let me make my own choices. I will be hoping to see her for future appointments
Long periods between handing in repeat prescriptions and getting the medication. This worries me as shortly I will be putting in a repeat prescription for all items. This due to a holiday where I will be overseas for 4 weeks and will be requiring a repeat form to show that I need the medication.
We sympathise with the patient on this issue. Unfortunately, the delay is not with the surgery. As always, our time to process a request is 48 hours during working days. For patient safety purposes, we will date a prescription for when it falls due. We understand the pharmacies have recently been experiencing some difficulties with receiving stock of certain medications and some with staff shortages. Any delays that take place at the pharmacy is beyond our control. The processing time we quote does not include the processing time from the pharmacy. If you go on holiday, you can request your medication early if you go abroad. In that case, please place a note with your request with the dates you will be away for. Only then we can take this into account. If you go on holiday in the UK, we can send the request to a pharmacy near where you are on holiday instead as a one-off.
Absolutely can not fault Dr Mba. Very thorough and understanding. Me and my daughter felt at ease and knew we would be looked after and listened to.
Excellent service provided and very well pleased could not have been any better.
Good afternoon,
I would like to thank to Mandy and Dr Matters for being very professional and helping me out.
Thank you
I telephoned the surgery with an issue about my daughter having a persistent cough. (after a 28 minute wait on the phone) I was offered no appointment at all & advised to call iheart in a text a few hours later (I did say that the appointment didnt need to be that day, but asked if someone could listen to her chest at some point) I got her an appointment with iheart, but they recommended me calling my GP to have an asthma test to rule out asthma as a cause. (they couldnt do the test?!?!) Iheart informed me that the notes from this appointment will be made available to my GP practice. I then called back & explained all this and I was then offered an appointment. Nobody informed me on the phone that my daughter wasn’t actually booked in with an Asthma nurse, so when we attended this appointment & explained again the problem, the lady’s response was ‘Ah you need an asthma nurse for that’ this was a little awkward & embarrassing, surely reception could have explained this to me on the phone? This particular medical professional prescribed an inhaler to try and I was then pointed back in the direction of reception to book with the Asthma nurse. This time (and totally perplexed by this point) the receptionist explained that they cannot refer my daughter to a Asthma nurse off the back of my request or even iheart for that matter (even though you as the practice sent us to iheart because you wouldn’t give us ANY appointment). We now await the appointment with the Asthma nurse in a few weeks, But I feel the whole process could have been made more clear to someone who doesn’t book/need appointments very often. From the outside it gives the perception of being sent to iheart so the practice doesn’t have to deal with it, which is odd when the general public are advised to get a persistent cough checked with your GP. I am happy that both iheart and the appointment we had resulting in her chest being checked, which sounded ‘clear’ but could the communication be better, or at least listen to me when I say I need an non-emergency appointment for my daughter?
We believe this patient makes a valid point. There appears to have been some miscommunication in this case. Not all our patients are aware of how our Assessment of Need system works, we have after all around 7500 patients. Here is how the system works and I will also address the questions this patient asked.
- A patient contacts the surgery for a GP appointment (this can be by phone or by online consultations).
- Online consultations are only suitable for non-urgent problems.
- The receptionist takes the details from the patient and may ask some questions to clarify this further and enters these details on the patient’s notes. The receptionist does not have the authority to book a GP appointment at the patient’s request. She can however signpost to certain other services already if this appears appropriate from the details given.
- The receptionist adds the patient’s name to the assessment of need list.
- A clinician (GP, advanced nurse practitioner or physician associate) reads the details on the patient’s notes and assesses the need for an appointment based on this. This could also include signposting to a more appropriate service if needed.
- The clinician sends a message to the patient (either personally or via reception) with the outcome of the assessment, this is usually as a text message. If an appointment is offered this will include a time, date and a place.
- If the clinician feels it is appropriate to refer to iHeart (eg it requires a same-day appointment but none remain at the surgery), the patient will receive this message.
- Our receptionists cannot book with an asthma nurse directly if the patient has not yet been diagnosed with asthma. In that case, a clinician will decide that an assessment by a clinician is needed before the asthma nurse performs further tests and sees the patient.
- In the above case, it would have been helpful if this information had also been given to the patient. Our standard text message for an appointment booked after the assessment of need does now include a prompt to enter a reason for the appointment. Hopefully this will ensure the patient knows what the appointment booked is for.
It would be nice to see a GP occasionally,although the practice nurses are excellent.luckily I’m not an ill person.its just reviews and blood tests as per the rules.
Digital logging in rather than waiting at reception would be good as other patients are queuing and listening to conversations
Something to consider again, although previously the systems for this too often crashed.
The GP who saw my son and I yesterday was wonderful. She was approachable, really listened to what I had to say and was great with my son. The staff on the phones and on the reception were also lovely and very efficient.
All my needs were met very well. Received a text offering double appointment as I had two concerns. Doctor very pleasant and listened. Even the phone wasn’t too much of a problem this time as previously waited in queue and then cut off when it was my turn so good result
Excellent advise from doctor Ali talked to me about what my appointment was about, reassured me about my medication and booked follow up blood tests
Pleased with everything, Thank you
Fantastic service I received
Even thought I was dubious about seeing a Doctor I didn’t know , I was highly delighted with Dr Magadaza. He was very helpful and very easy to talk to.
I cannot believe that I seem to passed from pillar to post between the hospital and Doctors with no clear direction, the outcome of the visit to go and buy some Imodium I find totally inadequate and unhelpful – I feel let down by the service provided.
We can’t comment on how appropriate the advice given was without checking the notes. However, if both the hospital and the GP gave the same advice, this is likely appropriate advice. As always, if symptoms don’t improve after the initial advice or treatment, it may be needed to request another review.
You cant get to see a doctor now and as for precriptions thats a no no
We have no reference for this comment. Patients who need to see a doctor are more likely to see a doctor with the assessment of need system. However, patients who want (but do not necessarily need) to see a doctor may have more difficulty to see a doctor. NHS England has put guidance in place regarding certain medications and receiving NHS prescriptions for those. Most medications that are available over the counter can no longer be prescribed by a GP. We wonder if this is what this patient meant.
I understand things change but Dr’s practice should always be vigilant and it is very difficult now to make an appointment to see a doctor too much red tape
I went to Cudworth surgery for blood test for medication review. The nurse was very good, helped with other questions I had.
Good friendly service
I waited in call queue for around 40 minutes, which I fully expected on a Monday morning. Receptionist explained triage process and I received a text within 10 minutes giving me a face to face appointment that morning. Saw Dr Ali who listened and offered advice. Agreed action and follow up plan if necessary. Very happy, smooth and efficient process.
I spoke to the doctor and he kept saying well you can go private for your problem.
I was annoyed at this as I wanted help which I don’t think I received
We don’t know what the ins and outs of this situation are and can’t comment on this. It may have been that they wished to be seen by the service they were referred to sooner. Unfortunately, that is beyond our power and relies on the capacity of the service.
Nurse Lucy (I think!) was so lovely and very knowledgeable during my cervical smear appointment, informing me of everything she was doing and also why she was doing it. Exactly what a nurse should be like, well done and thank you!
That concludes the comments left on our Patient Satisfaction Survey in the last 2 weeks. Now all we have left to share are the results of the 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 |
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Can you tell us why you gave that response? | Easy to book and seen ontime |
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months? | Slightly |
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment? | Neither likely nor unlikely |
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Can you tell us why you gave that response? | We live in the village, and it’s our closest. |
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months? | In some ways yes. Trying to get through especially in the morning is just as bad as its ever been. |
What are we doing particularly well? | The way appointments are booked, using triage, I like that. |
What do you feel we can improve on and how? | Re assess your booking system. Having everyone call at 8am only to find all appointments are booked by the time you get through is ridiculous. Maybe having a morning and an afternoon slot would ease the strain. |
We think this patient is unaware that we don’t ask patients to phone us at 8 am. In fact, we prefer if they wouldn’t phone at 8 am. However, patients will phone as soon as the surgery opens (sometimes even before we open!) hoping they will have the best chance of receiving an appointment. The GP appointments are however allocated on a needs basis rather than a first come-first serve basis. But we can only allocate appointments as long as they remain available.
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment? | Neither likely nor unlikely |
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Can you tell us why you gave that response? | Appointment by phone thay ring on time but you can not get appointment to see a doctor for love or money |
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months? | Have had some very bad attacks with having menear disese and rang starting at 8 in morning more then 50+times and when thay answer no spp0intments ring tomorrow and same again once went down thay told me to go out side and ring so a did she said no appointments left ring to morrow |
What are we doing particularly well? | Nowt much good at ringing |
What do you feel we can improve on and how? | Try mske it better to see doctor not to go out side and ring youand a lot of folk feel same way and mad about whats going on |
We are sorry to hear this patient is so unhappy with us. They are correct in mentioning we don’t accept appointment requests at the reception desk. This is because we wish to safeguard the patient’s confidentiality and anyone in the waiting area could overhear if we allowed this. Instead, patients will need to either phone us or use our online consultations (this is only appropriate for non-urgent problems!). We will not tell a patient we don’t have any appointments available and to try again the next day and haven’t done that for over a year. Instead, patients will go onto the assessment of need list and a clinician will decide the best course of action for that patient. We cannot make it any easier for a patient to see a doctor as there is always far more demand for appointments than there are appointments available. Through the assessment of need process we can attempt to allocate the available appointments to the patients who are most in need of the appointments.
How likely are you to recommend our GP practice to friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment? | Extremely likely |
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Can you tell us why you gave that response? | Professional caring and compassionate to patients needs |
Do you think the practice has improved in the last 12 months? | Yes |
What are we doing particularly well? | Giving patients more options to communicate with a Doctor. |
And it’s always nice to finish on a high note. Thank you very much to all the patients who have shared their feedback with us. We really appreciate the time you take to do so.