NHS GP Patient Survey

You may have already seen the GP Survey results in the news, while the coverage may not always be ideal, we’re glad to see awareness being raised as it helps find out what’s going well and what could be better. If you haven’t seen the coverage, patients were asked at random by the NHS to submit a survey for their GP practice, these results are then released centrally by the NHS.

Generally, we have mixed feelings about our results, it highlights areas we should look at and helps us to appreciate the areas we are best at. We have been told that our locality received better results than we would normally expect, which is great news, albeit a little surprising due to the survey unfortunately occurring during a Flu and Strep-A crisis which added additional pressure to local services! Regardless, we are a little disappointed with our practice result and are already planning long term solutions to big issues while attempting some quick fixes in the meantime.

Many of the improvements we have already put in place are taking time to have noticeable improvements, such as the telephone system implemented six months ago, while this is hugely improving waiting times, it is less notable by patients who are less regularly in contact with the practice.

Fortunately, we are thrilled with how our team scored, both reception and the clinical team scored very well, we’re really glad people are recognising our great staff who are doing the best they can with NHS pressures. Internally we are doing our best to help support staff morale and remind our team that issues around access and systems are not the fault of any of the front-line team and the importance of remembering that.

We are aware of other things that cause frustration for patients getting through to us, like the methods of booking appointments which we are considering solutions for. Of course, we would like to improve our scores, but our main aim is and will always be, to provide the best care, for the most people, in the most need and in the most efficient way. If you have any ideas or feedback about improving the patient journey, then please let us know.