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Tell us what you think.......
Don’t let others have your say!
Dear Patient
This survey should only take about 10 minutes to complete. I hope you will be able to find the time to complete it.
Please note that the closing date for responses is Sunday 7 August (midnight)
Once the replies have been analysed, we will update the practice website and put up information in the surgery about the results and next steps. All information published will be entirely anonymous.
Thank you, in advance, for taking the time to reply to our survey.
Yours sincerely
Susan Renn
Practice Manager
Section 1: Introduction to the Appointment System Survey 2016
Following patient surveys in 2013 and 2014 there was a patient mandate to change the appointment system. This led to ‘Open Surgery’, as it was called, being replaced with a system that offers ‘urgent’ appointments at various times of the day, not just until 10.30am. Patients call the surgery, and if they feel they have an ‘urgent’ medical need, they are put onto a doctor telephone call list. A doctor then calls the patient that day to discuss their medical condition. This is called “telephone triage”. If it is medically urgent for the patient to be seen the same day, then they will be seen.
This change allowed the practice to:
- Offer more routine bookable appointments at the start of the day to help those who work or have other morning commitments.
- Prioritise patients with a ‘medically urgent‘ need
- Provide timed,’urgent’ appointments throughout the day, - more convenient for those with children at school or who have work/study commitments
- Remove the need for patients to queue for long periods outside the practice in the rain, cold or heat in the early morning and then have a potentially longer wait to be seen, or be turned away because Open Surgery was already full when they arrived.
This survey is to get patient feedback on the changes that were made. It is going out to as large and representative a sample of patients as we can manage over the next few weeks.
If you have difficulty completing the survey for any reason, Ms Fiona Lodge will be happy to meet you and help you complete the survey, including using the Languageline interpreting service to do so.
Please complete the survey by midnight on Sunday 7 August.
Section 2: About you
The survey starts with some questions about you so that we can check that those who complete the survey are representative of all our patients. The survey and results are entirely anonymous.
Please select one option for all questions (unless stated otherwise).
1. I am aged:
2. I am:
3. I speak English as:
4. I consider myself to belong to the following ethnic group(s): please select all that apply:
5. Each year, I visit the health centre:
6. I am working:
7. I have a chronic health condition (e.g. asthma, diabetes, COPD, high blood pressure):
8. I have a major health condition (e.g. cancer, coronary heart disease):
9. I have access to a landline or mobile telephone:
10. I have easy access to the internet (e.g.smart phone, laptop, computer):
11. I was invited to take part in this survey by:
Section 3: Getting through on the telephone
12.Have you phoned the practice in the last 12 months? If so, how long did it take for your call to be answered by a person i.e. how long were you listening to recorded messages?
13. You are charged for calls from the moment you hear the first recorded message. This is still a “local call”. Many people’s home or mobile phone providers give a large “call allowance” which enables people to make large numbers of calls or long calls without additional charge. However, this is not so for everyone.
Is the increase in call length (and therefore cost) because of waiting in a “phone queue” a significant issue for you?
14. Is it helpful to be able to contact the practice secretary or admin team using the “options” in the message rather than having to wait for all calls to be routed through reception as used to be the case?
15. Do you feel it is helpful to have separate phone options for urgent appointments and general reception matters (including routine appointments)? (We use this to prioritise answering medically urgent calls.)
16. Do you feel that the current phone message is too long?
17. Do you feel that the current phone message has too much information?
18. Do you feel that the current phone message is about right?
19. Do you feel that the current phone message is too confusing or complicated and that the practice should go back to the old phone system, where all calls come through to reception
20. Other comments on the phone system::
Section 4: Access to healthcare in general
21. Access to healthcare services (i.e. the ability to get an appointment) at the health centre is generally acceptable.
22. I need easier access to: (Choose one):
Section 5: Access to GPs – routine appointments
(A routine appointment is one which is booked in advance for a problem that is not medically urgent.)
23. Have you seen a GP for a ROUTINE appointment in the last 12 months?
If you answered NO to the question above, please go to the next section.
24. If you answered YES, how long did you have to wait for your routine appointment?
25. Everyone would like waiting times for routine appointments to be shorter than they are. However, if your medical problem becomes urgent, you could ask for a "same-day urgent appointment instead of waiting for your routine appointment.
Was this waiting time to get an appointment acceptable?
26. When you came for your appointment, how close to your appointment time were you seen?
27. Given that the time the doctor needs to spend with each patient can be variable, and sometimes very unpredictable (e.g. due to patient emergencies), were you reasonably happy with how long you had to wait to be called in to see the doctor?
28. Do you feel that the doctor listened to you?
29. Were you happy with the care you received?
30. If you answered ‘no’ to any of the questions in this section, please tell us more:
Section 6: Access to GPs – ‘same day’ urgent care appointments
If you feel you have an urgent medical problem that cannot wait until the next day, you can request an urgent ‘same day’ telephone call from a doctor. The doctor will then ring and assess whether they can provide help over the phone or whether you need to be seen by a nurse or doctor at the practice.
31. Were you aware that ‘same day’ care is available if you feel you have an urgent medical problem?;
32. I like the fact I do not have to queue outside the surgery before it opens to ensure that I can see or speak to a doctor when I have an urgent medical problem.
33. I like the fact that ‘urgent’ appointments are now more readily available both morning and afternoon
34. I like the fact I am given a timed slot for my ‘urgent’ appointments
35. Have you been seen under new ‘same day’ urgent care arrangements?
If you answered NO to the question above, please go to the next section.
36. If you answered YES, were you happy with the time it took to receive a call from a doctor?
37. If you were asked by the doctor to come into the surgery, were you happy with the timing of the appointment?
38. Do you feel that the doctor listened to you?
39. Were you happy with the care you received?
40. If you answered NO to any of the questions in this section, please tell us more
41. Did you receive a phone call from a doctor, but were not asked to come into the surgery for a ‘same day’ appointment?
If you answered NO to the question above, please go to the next section.
42. If you answered YES, were you happy with the time it took to receive a call from the doctor?
43. Were you happy with the advice given?
44. In your opinion, was this a good way to deal with your health concern on this occasion?
45. Please feel free to add further comment about your experience of the same-day urgent care arrangements:
Section 7: Minor Illness Nurse Appointments
The Leys Health Centre offers Minor Illness Nurse appointments for temperature / rash / urine infection / other minor illness. You may be offered this kind of appointment by a receptionist, or advised to make an appointment by a Duty Doctor.
46. Were you aware that Minor Illness Nurse appointments were available?
47. Have you been seen by a Nurse for a minor illness appointment in the last 12 months?
If you answered NO to the question above, please go to the next section.
48. If you answered YES, when you came for your appointment, how close to your appointment time were you seen:
49. Do you feel that the time you waited was reasonable?
50. Do you feel that the nurse listened to you?
51. Were you happy with the care you received?
52. If you answered NO to any of the questions in this section, please tell us more
Section 8: Access to GPs – Home visits
If a home visit is thought necessary the patient (or carer) is asked to phone before 10.30am if possible . Home visit requests are reviewed by the GPs and, if needed, are usually done around lunchtime. For visits requested after 1pm, the patient is phoned that day, and the visit is usually done around lunchtime the next day - unless medically urgent.
53. Have you asked for a home visit in the last 12 months?
If you answered NO to the question above, please go to the next section.
54. If you answered YES, have you had difficulty obtaining a home visit?
55. If you answered ‘YES’, please tell us more?
56. Were you satisfied with the care provided during the visit?
57. If you answered ‘NO’ then please tell us more?
Section 9: Alternatives to GP appointments
The Practice is looking at other ways of freeing up more routine GP appointments.
58. I would be happy to see a physiotherapist (instead of a doctor or nurse) at the practice if I had a pain in my joints / limbs / muscles
59. I would be happy to see a community psychiatric nurse (instead of a doctor or nurse) at the practice if I had a problem relating to stress, emotional or mental health issues
Section 10: Overall standard of care provided at The Leys Health Centre
(care provided by doctors, nurses etc)
NOT appointment waiting times
60. The overall standard of care I receive at the The Leys Health Centre is generally:
61. Comments on overall standard of care:
Please note that, together with the Patient Participation Group, the practice will be doing a further survey of patient views, on a wider range of topics, later in the year.
62. However if there are aspects of our current appointment system, which are not covered by the questions in this survey, and on which you would like to provide feedback please give us your comments here:
Thank you for your time and help in completing this survey.
We will use your answers to try to improve the service we offer.