Patient Participation Group

Greengate Medical Centre

1 Greengate Lane

Birstall

Leicester. LE4 3JF

e-mail:

“Linking Practice and Patients”

LOCAL PATIENT PARTICIPATION REPORT – 2013/14

The Greengate Medical Centre PPG has been meeting regularly – approximately every 2 months – throughout the year, and the following report summarises the outcomes and the PPG survey results for 2013/14.

Report Content:

  1. Profile of Practice Population
  2. Profile and Structure of PPG
  3. Feedback from 2012/13 Survey
  4. The 2013/14 Survey
  5. Designing the survey
  6. How was the survey carried out.
  7. Survey results
  8. Action plans
  9. Conclusion
  10. Practice Opening Hours
  11. Availability of the Report

1.PROFILE OF PRACTICE POPULATION

The Practice profile as a whole, as at March 2014, is as follows:

Age:

% (2013) / %
0-16 yrs / 19.45 (19.53) / 55-64 yrs / 11.24 (11.51)
17-24 yrs / 9.55 (9.85) / 65-74 yrs / 9.99 (9.85)
25-34 yrs / 11.54 (10.99) / 75-84 yrs / 7.21 (7.1)
35-44 yrs / 12.93 (13.07) / 85 and over / 2.17 (2.15)
45-54 yrs / 15.92 (15.95)

Gender:

Male / 49.23 (49.46)% / Female / 50.77 (50.54)%

Ethnicity:

White / 97.1% / (98.27%)
Indian / 2.37% / (1.3%)
Other / 0.53% / (0.43%)

The Practice has seen the list size increase again in the last 12 months, and as at March 2014 equates to 10798.

2.PROFILE AND STRUCTURE OF PPG.

The PPG currently comprises 9 (2013 = 9 members) members, with the profile as follows:

Age:

17-24 yrs245-54 yrs0Total = 9 members

25-34 yrs055-64 yrs3

35-44 yrs065-74 yrs1

74 and over3

Gender:

Male / 4 / Female / 5

Ethnicity:

White / 9

Whilst the numbers have remained the same, we have had 2 new members join the PPG in the year, and 2 leave. In addition, we have had some enquiries to record patients e-mail addresses specifically for the purpose of setting upa virtual PPG, and this will be expanded in the coming year.

We continue to advertise our PPG on the Practice Website and in the surgery waiting room and Practice Leaflet.

Mrs Joanne Merchant, Practice Manager, and Dr SE Ford, also attend all the meetings.

3.FEEDBACK FROM 2012/13 SURVEY

Early in 2013, the group discussed the results of the patient survey, and published the action plans. There were 4main plans noted, and the feedback from these is as follows:

  1. Telephone access

Over the Christmas period and into late January 2013, the Birstall area had problems with the telephone system, and the Practice was running with 2 lines not working for several weeks. During the year we have continued to promote the use of on-line bookings, not only for booking appointments but also for requesting repeat prescriptions. We are regularly receiving requests for repeat medications on-line, and we also see more patients booking their appointments on-line too.

  1. Use of Walk-in-centre/UCC

A large proportion of patients said they had used the services out of hours. However there were quite a few responses that indicated a general unawareness that they can come to the surgery with minor injuries. Whilst the WIC or UCC may be more convenient, both result in long waiting times, and the surgery needs to look at ways of ensuring patients are aware of all the services we can offer.

We have continued to promote the use of other services through the Practice Leaflet and on the Website. Indeed one of the ongoing action plans for 2014/15 is to look at the way the Surgery communicates with the patients, to see how this can be improved. As a matter of routine now, new patients are being asked for their e-mail address as they register with the surgery, and therefore the database of patients e-mail addresses is increasing.

  1. Other services requested

Last year there were many requests for a local NHS Chiropody service at the surgery, especially for the elderly and diabetic patients. This suggestion has been fed back to the CCG as a possibility of being widened to all areas. Whilst there has not been any change in the year, the CCG are working to try to improve the access for patients to services on a more local level, and this is a continuing plan.

  1. Car parking

This area continues to be an issue, and there were a few comments made relating to this in the current year’s survey. Notices are being displayed around the waiting room, and patients who park inappropriately are being asked to move more. However this is not an easy problem to resolve, and further work may be required on this.

4.THE 2013/14 PPG SURVEY

a. DESIGNING THE SURVEY

Following on from the 2012/13 survey, the PPG discussed the areas it wanted to concentrate on for 2013/14. It was unanimously agreed that the survey should remain concise, and the majority of the questions should remain the same. After having included a specific question relating to car parking in the 2012/13 survey, it was felt unnecessary to repeat this again in 2013/14. It was, however, agreed to make the following main changes:

a)As the Surgery extended hours ended in the year, the question relating to the early opening and late closing was removed.

b)To find out if patients knew about specialist clinics in the surgery, a question was devised to address this.

The draft survey was then circulated to all the PPG members after the meeting to obtain final feedback before it was issued.

b. HOW WAS THE SURVEY CARRIED OUT?

To encourage as many patients as possible to complete the survey, the Practice used a number of methods as follows:

  1. Practice notices advertising the survey, and copies of the questionnaire were on display on the reception desk and in the leaflet dispensers in the waiting room.
  2. All healthcare staff were supplied with copies of the survey to hand out to patients.
  3. Some members of the PPG asked for extra copies to hand out to friends/neighbours who have home visits.
  4. The survey was put on the Practice website, and this was also advertised in the waiting room.

The survey was run for a period of 4 weeks in February 2014, and during this time a total of 175 responses were received.This year, the uptake from the practice website had fallen, despite advertising the facility.

c. SURVEY RESULTS

See separate survey results document. This document is available on the Practice Website.

The general observation is that having a smaller number of responses this year may have an impact upon the data, however similar trends can be seen between the 2013/14 results and those of previous years.

One of the areas that is always raised is that of the receptionists. During the past year monthly reception meetings have been held, to address a variety of issues both clinically and personally. In the past 6 months, 3 new receptionists have been recruited, and therefore training is ongoing to deal with trying to improve the perception of a GP Medical Receptionist.

The PPG wished for the report to express their total confidence with the reception staff at the Practice, and to congratulate them on their work.

d. ACTION PLANS

The Practice Manager collated the results of the survey, and at the March meeting these were distributed to the PPG members for discussion.

The two main areas that arose out of the survey were as follows:

i. Communication with patients

The results indicated that there are many patients who are not aware of all the services the surgery offers, and indeed who to contact. The PPG has decided that one of the first actions in the 2014/15 year is to set up a subgroup to look at how to improve the communication with patients.

In addition, the PPG will be looking at ways of improving the way information is displayed in the surgery.

ii. Confidentiality at Reception

This year we have seen more patients comment about the reception area and the fact that conversations can be over heard. In the last few weeks a new screen has been purchased which has enabled an area to be screened off, thereby enabling patients to talk to reception with moreprivacy. In addition, a barrier has also been placed in reception to try to avoid patients standing too close and thereby over hearing others conversations. This will be reviewed to see what impact the changes have in the waiting room.

e. CONCLUSION

In general, the results from the survey were very positive, Once again, over 95% of our patients said they would recommend our surgery to their family and friends, and 98.8% are either very happy or fairly happy with the care they get at the surgery.

There are a number of action plans to follow up, and these will be covered over the months ahead. However we received many complimentary comments from patients – far too many to list- and we are delighted to receive this feedback.

The members of the Surgery and the PPG would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey, and if anyone would learn more about the results, please do not hesitate to contact the Practice Manager.

5. PRACTICE OPENING HOURS

The Practice opening hours remain as follows:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday – 8am to 6pm

Thursday – 8am to 1pm.

Outside of the normal working hours, patients can contact the out of hours team by telephoning the normal surgery phone number, and then listening to the answer machine message.

In summary, the Out of hours telephone numbers are as follows:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 6.00pm to 6.30pm} 0330 123 9219

And Thursday 1.00pm to 6.30pm}

Monday to Friday, 6.30pm to 8.00am, }111

and all weekends and bank holidays}

6. AVAILABILITY OF THE REPORT

The report will be placed on the Practice website. In addition, notices will be displayed in the waiting room, advertising the fact that the website has the full report. A summary of the key issues arising from the survey will be published, and copies will be made available for patients in the waiting room, and should they want a full copy of the survey results, they will be able to request one from the Practice Manager.