Symonds Green Health Centre

Dr. M.R. MASOOD Symonds Green Health Centre Filey Close Stevenage Herts SG1 2JW

PATIENT SATISFACTION Improving the Practice 2014

We asked patients to complete the attached questionnaire. We were looking for patients views with regards to improving our service. We asked if patients could read and complete the survey and would welcome their honest feedback. We asked patients not to write their name on the paper as this was not required.

60 questionnaires were handed out. Only 52 were handed back into reception. Regretfully not all were fully completed.

All data was added manually to the website as historically we have not had a good response in the past.

Questions fell into seven categories:

1. Access to a Doctor or Nurse

2. Obtaining a repeat prescription

3. Obtaining test results

4. About the staff

5. Supporting Carers

6. Overall satisfaction with the Practice

7. Comments TO ACCESS RESULTS OF SURVEY ‘SEE WEBSITE’

Analysis of Results

1 Access to a Doctor or Nurse

Speed at which the telephone was answered initially – The majority of patients were happy with the speed of answering when they called

Speed at which the telephone was answered if call transferred – High percentage of patients had had no experience of this but the majority thought this was ‘very good’

Length of time you had to wait for an appointment – We scored average overall but noticed a marked improvement from last survey

Convenience of day and time of your appointment – A high percentage of patients were very happy with the outcome when making an appointment

Seeing the Doctor of your choice – We have always endeavoured to ensure patients have their choice of GP as reflected in this excellent result

Length of time waiting to check in with Reception – We had an excellent response to this as our ‘touch pad’ on reception for patient log in has been very convenient for both patients and receptionists. It has proven to be quick and easy to use with no hanging around at the front desk or waiting for reception assistance.

Length of time waiting to see the Doctor or Nurse – We have a notice on our information screen that ‘if patients wait for more than 15 minutes then they must let reception know’ we are very satisfied with this system and patients agree.

Opportunity of speaking to a Doctor or Nurse on the telephone when necessary – We had a good response for this but also noticed that there was a high percentage of patients with no experience. We have a set time when patients can speak to the Doctor/Nurse and patients clearly support this.

Opportunity of obtaining a home visit when necessary – As reflected in the results, only a small amount of patients have had any experience of home visits and those who have were satisfied.

Level of satisfaction with the after hours service – There was a very high percentage of patients who were satisfied with the after hours care. 2. Obtaining a repeat prescription

Prescription ready on time – We had an excellent result as we do strive to turnover our prescription requests promptly and well within our 48hr promise. This was reflected on our recorded results.

Prescriptions correctly issued – Overall excellent result yet we do occasionally have a patient insist they ticked the request box . We do keep prescription requests for one week to enable us to prove to patient that the item was not requested..

Handling of any queries – Yet again an excellent result as queries are dealt with as soon as possible as patient satisfaction is paramount.

3. Obtaining test results

Were you told to contact us for your results – With regards to blood tests we do issue a written instruction to patients informing them to contact the surgery in 7 to 10 days. Other results are generally back by this time so we do tell patients to contact us up to 10 days.

Results available when you contacted us - All normal blood test etc results are given out by the receptionist. Abnormal results are given out by a clinician.

Level of satisfaction with the amount of information provided - Patients are clearly satisfied with our system as the results of our survey support this.

Level of satisfaction with the manner in which the result was given – This was satisfactory as shown in the report.

4. About the staff

The information provided by the reception staff – The response to this was ‘very good’. The reception staff continue to be a credit to the Practice.

The helpfulness of the reception staff – The result in the survey was outstanding, as a very high percentage of our patients put the helpfulness of the reception as ‘excellent’.

The information provided by other staff – as above, all staff members continue to be very informative.

The helpfulness of other staff – all staff members strive to aid/assist patients at all times and this is reflected on the survey result. 5. Supporting Carers

Are you aware the Practice has a notice board for Carers – It was evident from the report that we need to make patients more aware of our notice board and this will be addressed.

Are you aware there is information on our website for Carers – Overall there was a good response but there is certainly room for improvement and this will be addressed.

Do you know who the Carer Champion is for the Practice – A poor result was noted against this question and this will also be addressed.

Do you know how to register as a Carer with the Practice – The report identified that this is not very clear although for all new patients registering we do give a form for them to fill in but promotion of this will be addressed.

Are you a Carer – Result shows a low uptake on patients identifying themselves as Carers so again this will be looked into.

6. And finally

Overall satisfaction with this Practice – We had a comforting response to our survey with overall satisfaction of our Practice reading ‘good to excellent’. We were disappointed that patients did not take up the opportunity to leave many comments as this always makes room for improvement.

We were happy that a mixed group of patients did participate in our survey which enabled us to have a wider view of our Practice.

The purpose of this survey is to establish the level of satisfaction with regards to our services, access and the surgery overall.

Sample of comments:

Request piped music or TV in waiting room Good to have evening appointments Satisfied with appointments given Happy with service Staff kind and lovely Good experience Family satisfied Longer surgery hours More Appointment availability Credit to all staff Carers Unaware of evening appointments Actions from the Comments;

The results indicate that the surgery continues to have the support of the patients, however there are areas which we need to address. With regards to evening appointments we publicise this service on our website, practice leaflet and notices displayed around the premises. We will continue to promote this service. Any patient that feels they need to be seen on the day, we strive to accommodate daily. We urge patients to cancel appointments if they are unable to attend to allow for others to book.

It was noted that patient knowledge of Carer support and who was our Carer Champion representative within the practice was very poor. Our goal this year is to promote this service.

Recruitment to the Patient Participation Group is a continual worry as interest has stagnated. We welcome more patients to join, therefore if you are interested, further information on how to join is available on our website or please ask at reception.

Patient Participation Response

The overall opinion was positive towards the survey. As previous, the staff were complimented on being helpful, friendly and good mannered.

There has been a marked improvement on appointment availability. We continue to adapt to meet patient demand but recognise that we will never be able to please all of the people all of the time.

The surgery has seen some changes in staff this year. Dr Bhardwaj has retired whilst Dr Masood has remained as the sole GP responsible for the Practice. Dr Shazeb has recently been a welcome addition to the Practice and is employed as a salaried GP and Nurse Practitioner Alison Clarke has returned to the Practice enabling us to provide more appointments to accommodate demand. We also have had a change in Reception staff welcoming two new members to our team.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) set the standards of care within the Practice. They conduct spot checks to ensure compliance. We fully embrace the CQC as we use them as a tool to take a fresh look at ourselves alongside our patient surveys. This in turn helps us to keep our protocols up to date and our overall performance to a good standard.