Dr Pathak’s Surgery
PPG Report
March 2014
Appendix:
1) Practice Population
2) Patient Participation Governors
3) Cause For concerns
4) Patient cause for concerns
5) PPG agendas
6) Minutes Summary
7) Meeting outcomes
Dr Pathak’s Patient Participation Group
Report
To Date April 2014
Dear Patient,
You may be aware that over the last 3 years we sought to set up a patient participation group. You as patients are able to come into the surgery and express ideas and views that you may have about the service that we offer to you as a practice. Your ideas are vital to us as we then are able to assess how we could change our service in order to make it better. We believe that your opinions and ideas are key to help us have a better understanding of you want the practice to be run so you as the patients can benefit.
This task has helped us to gain ideas of what services need updating in order for them to meet your needs and demands. The previous meetings that we have held have run successfully, from those meetings we have acted upon the ideas as they were put into motion immediately and have proven to be beneficial. Ideas are put forward to us often and we try to implement those ideas into our practice so that the surgery is efficient and up-to-date.
We had to develop a structure that gains the views of patients and enables feedback which is a key aspect of the surgery’s progress.
The practice has relatively mixed patient population that varies with age as well as ethnicity. Therefore it is essential that members of the PPG are from all ethnic backgrounds. This ensures that we provide an opportunity for all patients to take an interest into joining the patient participation group and to have their own say and opinion.
1) Posters and leaflets were designed and distributed around the surgery to help promote interest.
2) Individual letters were sent to selected patients who attended previous meetings inviting them to attend.
3) Text messages were sent to all patients who have consented to use the text message service, the texts were sent out the evening before the meetings.
4) Staff members verbally invited patients who came into the surgery.
5) New patients were also invited to attend the PPG meetings.
After following these steps which were all ideas from the members of the PPG the patient turn out has gradually increased. New members got an insight to what had been discussed at previous meetings and for them to interpret any ideas that they may have.
Dr Pathak March 2014 –Population Breakdown
Age sex breakdown
Age range / Sex / Patient Count / Age range / Sex / Patient Count0-9 / Female / 150 / 0-9 / Male / 201
.10-19 / Female / 132 / .10-19 / Male / 202
20-29 / Female / 229 / 20-29 / Male / 243
30-39 / Female / 212 / 30-39 / Male / 230
40-49 / Female / 175 / 40-49 / Male / 167
50-59 / Female / 132 / 50-59 / Male / 118
60-69 / Female / 78 / 60-69 / Male / 72
70-79 / Female / 66 / 70-79 / Male / 52
80 + / Female / 40 / 80 + / Male / 27
:
Age breakdown regardless of gender:
Gender breakdown regardless of age:
Percentage of population by gender:
N.o of patients / % of totalFemale / 1214 / 48.06%
Male / 1312 / 51.94%
Total / 2526 / 100%
Ethnicity breakdown:
Ethnicity / Patient CountIndian / 1097
Unknown / 432
African/Carribean / 215
British or mixed British / 200
Pakistani / 153
Asian - ethnic group / 117
Other White background / 106
Polish / 63
Other / 45
Bangladeshi / 21
Kurdish / 12
Slovak / 12
Other Black background / 10
Other Asian or Asian unspecified / 10
Baltic Estonian/Latvian/Lithuanian / 7
Nepali / 5
Punjabi / 4
Vietnamese / 4
Iranian (NMO) / 3
Other Asian (NMO) / 2
Irish / 2
Czech / 2
Arab / 1
Moroccan / 1
Albanian / 1
Romanian / 1
Ethnicity via graph representation:
PPG GOVERNORS
PPG Lead:
Mrs Aruna Bhatt
PPG Deputy:
Mrs Maud Robinson
Mrs Bhatt and Mrs Robinson are here to listen to your thoughts and will address them in the next PPG meeting. Please leave suggestions or letters at reception if you have any views in how to make the surgery better, or please ask at reception for the details of the next PPG meeting.
PPG Agenda breakdown
Cause for concerns:
- DNA GP appointments and Hospital appointments
(Patients to be made aware of the costs of DNA’s and how they waste our time and doctor’s time. Also how the rise of the demand is not being met due to the high number of DNA’s.)
- Opening times
(Opening times over the holidays, give information about the different types of services that are available when surgery is closed)
- Telephone Lines
(Telephone lines are now open all day to give patients the access to talk to reception staff if they wish to make to cancel an appointment)
- Other Services
(OOH service, walk in centre, A&E EMERGENCY ONLY!, Minor ailment service)
- New Doctors
(Locum doctors and new doctors that have joined the surgery over the last 3 months)
- Appointments
(Waiting times for appointments and the availability of appointments at the surgery)
Patient Concerns
- No appointments available
- One week wait or longer for appointment
- Telephone lines busy
- A&E
- DNA’s
- Late Night Surgery
- Suggestion box
- Text Messaging Services
- Prescription delays
- Blood/ urine results
- Posters/ displays in different languages to suit every demographic
- Multi-lingual staff members
- Medication requests/ home remedies
- Administration letters
- New Doctors
- Locum Doctors
- Opening Times
- Walk in Centres
Theses are some of the main concerns that have been raised by the patients which must be acted upon. Some of these issues are currently being changed to help reduce the re-occurring problems that are occurring.
Patient Concerns
Problem:
No Appointments Available
Discussion:
The demand to see the doctor is very high and is forever increasing. This is also the case for patients who only wish to see Dr Pathak. The staff work very hard in trying to suit every patients needs by offering appointments with different doctors and clinicians who could also deal with the patient’s problem and may have available appointments. However with some patients this is not always the case and prefer to ONLY see Dr Pathak. This then causes a problem with appointments as they become very limited and frustrating for patients who do have emergencies.
Action taken:
To release emergency appointments on the day for children and people with EMERGENCIES, anything else then patients would need to be offered an alternative, e.g. the next available appointment with any other clinician that we have available, or for them to use the OOH services. Patients are also encouraged to use the minor ailments scheme which is available at most pharmacies in the local area. Dr First is also available where patients would be able to speak to the Dr on site directly over the phone.
Problem:
One week wait or longer for appointment
Discussion:
Patients find it hard to get an appointment when they need to be seen urgently as they have to wait one week or more to be seen. This is very frustrating and is found to be a main cause for concern.
Action Taken:
To offer telephone appointments on the day with the Dr on site who would then be able to assess the patient without the patient having to come into the surgery. The patients must also understand the high demand of patients needing appointments and therefore must accept any appointment that is available regardless of the Dr. It is also essential that appointments are cancelled if it is no longer needed as then that appointment could be offered to someone else. There are also a number of appointments that are blocked and are available on the day for emergency patients which need to be booked over the telephone at 9am. System one online is now also available which we try to encourage on a daily basis, this allows patients who do have access to the internet to book and cancel their own appointments, reducing the waiting time.
Problem:
Busy telephone lines
Discussion:
Telephone lines are constantly busy when patients try to contact the surgery which becomes very frustrating/
Action Taken:
Telephone lines do become very busy from 9am-11am due to patients ringing the surgery requesting emergency appointments for that day. However due to the telephone lines being constantly engaged and patients stating that they could not get through we have now extended the telephone opening hours from 9am-1pm and then from 2pm- 6:30pm.
The surgery has since had a new telephone system which gives patients the options so that they can get though to the correct member of staff. Since this telephone system has been introduced we have also added an update which allows patients to be held in a queue so that they can speak to a member of staff even at the busy times of the day.
Problem:
A&E Attendances
Discussion:
The surgery is constantly getting letters from A&E regarding attendances that are not necessary. Patients need to be made aware of other services that are available and that A&E is for EMERGENCIES ONLY. The cost of each A&E attendance is £500 which is a lot of money that does come out of the surgery’s budget per annum. This un-necessary cost could go towards improving the service that the practice offers.
Action Taken:
Patients need to be made aware of the different types of services that are available such as the Walk in centre and the OOH service. Patients who attend A&E for an un-necessary reason the practice will write to them including a leaflet detailing all other options avoiding A&E unless necessary.
Problem:
DNA’s
Discussion:
DNA’s stand for Did Not Attend, they are a main problem within the surgery and cause a lot of frustration to the members of staff and other patients. The DNA’s are slowly improving but are still a big issue as patients are still making appointments and not cancelling them, leading to a DNA. The patients who attend the PPG on a regular basis believe that this is a very important issue and must be dealt with as appointments are being wasted when they could be given to people who do need them urgently. The patients agreed that something needed to be done urgently to help prevent the DNA’s that are made, as the cost of each DNA is £50
Action Taken:
The action that has been decided would be for Patients who DNA appointments will be contacted immediately and educated about the costs of an appointment. It has also been decided that patients that do miss appointments will be contacted as such:
1st missed appointment: Patients will be called and educated about their DNA this will be a warning.
2nd missed appointment: Patients will be sent a letter.
3rd missed appointment: Patients will be removed from Dr Pathak’s list.
PLEASE CANCEL APPOINTMENTS IF THEY ARE NOT NEEDED
Problem:
Late Night Surgery
Discussion:
Patients who work find it difficult to attend the doctor’s surgery around their job as some patients do not finish work until after 6pm when surgery is closed. This is very stressful for them as they have to either book time off work or attend the walk in centre.
Action Taken:
To deal with this problem we now have a late night surgery on a Wednesday evening where we are open until 7:30pm. This is ideal for patients who do work late and would need late evening appointments.
Problem:
Suggestion Box
Discussion:
It has been stated that patients would benefit from a suggestion box placed in view. Patients are then always able to pass on their ideas and views about the surgery.
Action Taken:
A suggestion box is already in use and is placed on reception. Patients would only need to drop their suggestions into the box and they will be passed onto the manager and Dr.Pathak. The suggestions left in the box would also be discussed at the next Patient Participation Group meeting.
Problem:
Text Messaging Service
Discussion:
Patients who use the text messaging service find it to be very beneficial as they can be reminded of their appointments the day before. This acts as a reminder to the patient and has improved the DNA’s we have had in the surgery.
Action Taken:
The reception staff in the surgery will tell the patients about the text messaging service and invite them to use it. This will be helpful to both the patients and the staff, as patients are more likely to maintain their appointments in the surgery. The text messaging service sends you a message to your mobile phone on the day that you book an appointment as confirmation. Another text is then sent the day before to act as a reminder. Text messages may also be sent if a patient needs to be seen in clinic for Diabetes check, Bp check etc.
Problem: