Patient Survey 2006 / 2007

The survey was undertaken from January - March 2007 and was completed by patients attending the surgery during that time.

The survey asked patients to rate us in a number of areas, giving us a score of poor, fair, good or very good.

The survey asked about the Practice (appointment times and availability, waiting room), the Practitioner, the Staff, Complaints / Compliments, Illness prevention, and reminder systems.

Patients were also welcomed to make any further comments, some of which are included on this page.

We will use the results of this survey to identify and address issues raised by our patients. As always we welcome any feedback with regards to this.

Overall you have told us that you receive an excellent level of care, however we need to improve our telephone and appointment systems in order make your patient experience a wholly satisfactory one.

What we’re doing right

The survey has shown us that we are continuing to provide a very good service in the following areas:

• Patients are satisfied with the way the Doctors and Nurses listen to them
• Patients are satisfied with the explanations they receive concerning their pro
blems
• Patients are very confident in the ability of the Doctors and Nurses at the Practice
• Patients are happy that they are able to speak to a Doctor or nurse on the telephone
• Patients are happy with the amount of time they spend with the Doctor or Nurse during their consultation

Patients have commented on the following:

"I think we are very fortunate to have a fantastic, caring team of doctors and nurses who never make you feel a waste of time"

"An excellent service is given by the practitioners"

"We are very pleased with the service we receive at the Practice. We are very pleased with the treatment we get from the medical staff"

Where we can improve

The survey has also revealed a number of areas where the patients feel we could improve our service:

• Patients are not satisfied with being able to see the GP of their choice
• Patients are not satisfied with the availability of appointments
• Patients are not satisfied with telephoning the surgery
• The car park could be improved
• The waiting rooms could be improved, with areas set aside for greater privacy

Patients have commented the following:

"It can sometimes be difficult to get through to the surgery on the telephone to make an appointment"

"More appointments available"

"A little more privacy when at the surgery making an appointment, otherwise I am very satisfied with the service"

What we’re going to do

We have already identified the following:

• We will review the telephone system and look into implementing a monitoring system to improve telephone access to the surgery
• We will continually review the appointments system to try to reach a balance between pre-bookable and emergency appointments
• We will look at the layout of the waiting rooms to provide a more comfortable environment and provide more privacy when required
• We will look at implementing more ways for the patients to contact the surgery for the purposes of improving the service we provide

We always welcome feedback and ideas for how to improve the patient experience at the Practice. Please feel free to discuss your ideas with any member of staff or the Practice Manager, Rachel Arkieson.

A pdf copy of this information is available here