Little Harwood Health Centre Patient Participation Group Report - July 2017
Group Profile
The Group presently consists of 9 patients:
3 = 39 to 44 age group
1 = 45 to 54 age group
1 = 55 to 64 age group
1 = 65 to 74 age group
2 = 75 to 84 age group
The members consist of 3 x males and 6 x females.
6 are White British
2 are Pakistani/British Pakistani
1 is Indian/British Indian
The practice recognises that not all of the diverse backgrounds, ages, lifestyles etc are represented and welcome new members who are willing to represent all patients during meetings and with practical help working alongside practice staff. Please ask at reception for more information.
Meetings
The Group normally meet several times per year but the practice went through a particularly difficult period when our Practice Manager passed away in 2016.
The meetings have now been resumed with some new members and a new Practice Manager.
Each meeting will have an Agenda, provide an update of relevant information and the opportunity to share opinions and suggestions as to the best way to implement any changes. The priorities for this coming year will be:-
- Better access for patients to GP services,
- Expansion of the on-line services – medication, appointments and ability for patients to view some of their own records,
- New telephone system to offer patients a choice of which reception service they need and be able to queue in position which, in turn, enables more patients to get through to us.
- Publicising our services available for flu and other campaigns throughout the year.
Better access for patients to GP services
The Government demand that appointments have to be available at certain times was removed and the opportunity to rearrange the booking system was taken. A private consultant was engaged by the Partners to examine how we had been booking appointments and how to change them to benefit everyone concerned. Much information was provided.
It was decided that we would open appointments 6 weeks in advance so that patients would not need to ring at 8am every morning to be seen on the day (although that service is also available). If the patient has been asked to come back and see the GP it will now be possible to make the appointment before they leave.
Some appointments are also released on-line so that those patients registered for Patient Access Services can book appointments that way instead of having to contact the surgery. Having booked an appointment on-line, the patient can also cancel it on-line if they then find they don’t need it.
Introduction of Online services
This began in October 2015 with medication being the first category opened for patients to order their repeat prescriptions on-line. The patient must register with the practice in the first instance. They are then given a code which the patient then uses to set up the connection between their home computer and their medication records at the practice. The patient must create their own password to use. To date 2308 patients have registered for this service.
The ability to book appointments on-line was added at a later date. Appointments are offered from the GP surgeries and have been chosen in order to offer a variety of times and GP’s to meet patient expectations. During the first quarter of 2017, 415 appointments have been booked this way.
Friends & Family Test
This replaced the very large survey that used to be undertaken but rather than one survey it is available all the time. The questionnaires have only two questions to them. The first one asks if the patient would recommend the surgery to a relative or friend who might just have moved into the area and gives various options to be ticked for the answer:-
- Extremely Likely
- Likely
- Unlikely
- Neither Likely nor Unlikely
- Extremely Unlikely
- Don’t know
The second question asks if there is anything we can improve on and a box is provided for the patient to elaborate their suggestion.
All of the comments are submitted via the website onto the Friends & Family Test section. These are then analysed and graphs produced to show to the Patient Participation Group and for submission to NHS England.
We thank the patients who take the time to contribute to ideas in this way.
Finally, the minutes of each meeting will be published on this website.
Little Harwood Health Centre Patient Participation Group Report - March 2015
Group Profile
The Group presently consists of 9 patients:
2 = 35 to 44 age group
1 = 45 to 54 age group
2 = 55 to 64 age group
3 = 65 to 74 age group
1 = 75 to 84 age group
2 males, 7 females
8 are White British, 1 is Indian and 3 are Carers
The latest survey identified that not all of the diverse backgrounds, ages, lifestyles etc were represented. The Group is always open to new members – please ask at Reception.
Meetings
The Group meets several times per year, the focus being on current issues within the Practice, new developments, such as on-line services, and how patients’ needs and demands are met. The aim is be the voice of the patients they represent.
Each meeting will have an Agenda, provide an update of relevant information and the opportunity to share opinions and suggestions as to the best way to implement any changes. The priorities for this year have been;
- Better access for patients to GP services
- Introduction of on-line services – medication, appointments, view records
- Gathering of information through the Friends & Family Test campaign
Members of the Group come into the waiting room and help with NHS campaigns that the Practice is obliged to undertake (as mentioned above)
Better access for patients to GP services
The Government demand that appointments have to be available at certain times was removed and the opportunity to rearrange the booking system was taken. A private consultant was engaged by the Partners to examine how we had been booking appointments and how to change them to benefit everyone concerned. Much information was provided.
It was decided that we would open appointments 6 weeks in advance so that patients would not need to ring at 8am every morning to be seen on the day. If the patient has been asked to come back and see the GP they could make that appointment before they leave the surgery.
The Duty Doctor and Triage systems have remained the same so that those patients who feel they need to be seen today can be accommodated.
Some appointments are also released on-line so that those patients registered for Patient Access can book appointments that way instead of having to contact the surgery. Having booked an appointment on-line, the patient can also cancel it on-line if they then find they don’t need to see a GP.
This has resulted in happier patients (no need to ring in at 8am each day), happier staff (have the means to be able to help patients get an appointment) and happier GP’s (more accessible). The transition changing the appointments from one system to another went smoothly, helped along by a message on the telephone explaining the new system.
Introduction of online services
This began in October with medication being the first category opened for patients to order on-line. The patient must register with the Practice in the first instance, they are given a code which needs inputting on the Patient Access section of our website. From this, the patient must create their own security questions and, finally, a password. To date over 900 patients have registered for this service.
In March, the ability to book appointments on-line was added. Appointments are offered from the GP surgeries and have been chosen to offer different times of the day to try to meet patient expectations.
Also in March, patients can see their ‘Summary’ which is a combination of medication, allergies and adverse reactions. This is particularly helpful if a patient is taken to hospital as the medication they take regularly may have an impact on treatment offered.
Friends & Family Test
This is the current campaign to get feedback from patients. It is available either in the waiting room or on our website with a form to complete.
The Friends and Family Test has replaced the survey that used to be undertaken but is available all the time rather than just once. The questionnaires have two questions. The first one asks if the patient would recommend the surgery to a relative or friend who might just have moved into the area and gives various options to be ticked for the answer;
- Extremely Likely
- Likely
- Unlikely
- Neither Likely nor Unlikely
- Extremely Unlikely
- Don’t know
The second question has been left for the Practice to choose. The Group were instrumental in deciding it should be;
Is there anything we can improve on?
A box is provided for a comment to be made by the patient.
All of the comments are submitted via the website onto the Friends and Family Test section. These are then analysed and graphs produced to show to the Group and for submission to NHS England.
It is interesting to note how the change to our appointments system affected the feedback we have received.
The Patient Participation Group members ‘volunteer’ to work in the waiting room handing these slips out. Patients seem to like this and enjoy the interaction with their representative.
The Group has also helped to get signatures for the ‘Your GP Cares’ campaign and were able to explain to patients about some of the issues raised thanks to their attendance at the meetings.
Finally, the minutes of the meetings held during this year are below.
13th May 2014 (DOCX, 16KB)
8th July 2014 (DOCX, 16KB)
16th September 2014 (DOCX, 17KB)
18th November 2014 (DOCX, 16KB)
27th January 2015 (DOCX, 16KB)
17th March 2015 (DOCX, 17KB)
See the PPG report for 2013 / 14