Hillview Family Practice
March 2013
Patient Participation Report 2012/13
I would like to start by with letting you know that Dr Wendy Mitchell is reducing her surgery commitment. This means that Dr Mitchell will only be with us on Mondays and Thursdays and will need to move a number of her ‘usual’ patients to other Doctors. We know that that will be difficult for some of you and we hope that you will understand the need for the change.
With your help our Patient Reference Group is working with 20 patients on our Email distribution with another 15 receiving paper information.
With this level of engagement we can begin to make a difference.
That being said I would hope that it is felt that we are always open, and responsive to any comments about how we work, what we do and how we can improve the service that we provide for you.
The make up of the EMail group is as follows: -
F: 15 M: 5
25-34 1
35-44 3
45-54 5
55-64 4
65-74 3
75-84 2
Declined 2
Parent: 3 Care: 2 Disability: 4
White British: 18 Caribbean: 1
The group is not currently representative but this will change over time. On this point I would invite anyone reading this to let me know if they are interested in helping.
So, how do we engage with you?
Suggestion Box
We have a suggestion box that many of you have made use of. It is very helpful if you include you name and preferred form of contact as I do try to speak to everyone who has taken the time to comment on what we do. As with all suggestions, some we can take on board and others we cannot but please keep them coming.
Website
www.hillviewfamilypractice.nhs.uk Please take a look and let me know what you think. More information is regularly added so do make use of it.
Complaints
We do not always get it right and sometimes, even when we do, we can leave patients feeling let down. I do not like complaints, any more than you like complaining, but I always value the view of anyone who uses our service and, as a team, we always try to learn from comments made.
Patient Survey
In 2013 we once again completed a major patient exit survey i.e. linking with patients actually attending the practice – 205 patients took part (over 3%) . This has only just been completed and will be published on the website Surveys within the next 10 days. We will also post a summary out to PRG members with no Email link and paper copies are available to anyone who would like one.
Feedback on the survey is very welcome. Lat year the key finding was that is that it is taking too long for you to see your GP. It will be very interesting to see if that has changed at all.
On this point I need to add that the demand on GP time this year has, once again, been at exceptional levels and, to give some idea of what that means, the following may be of interest:
For the year to August 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
We managed weekly contacts of 743 729 807 873 884
This is not offered as an excuse, simply to help understanding. maintaining the number of GP appointments available but, with the cut back in NHS resources, we will not be able to continue at that level.
The practice is currently open from 08:30 to 18:30 Monday to Friday but we do close from 12:30 – 13:30 at the moment.
We are also open for telephone calls from 08:00.
Every GP now offers some early and late appointments which we try to hold for patients who simply cannot get to us during our main opening hours.
Group Meetings
We had our first group meeting in December PRG Meeting 11 Dec 2012 and, for a small group, we covered a lot of ground. This also generated some very welcome discussion.
1-1 Meetings
If I am around I will always be very happy to break away and find the time to meet patients. Whilst this can be to deal with complaints I am very happy to hear good news as well.
Practice Leaflet
This is provided to all new patients and is available, through reception, to anyone who would like a copy. It carries much the same information as the website.
National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP)
The practice has been a member for many years and the NAPP provide very useful support, information and training to help patient Groups function well. http://www.napp.org.uk/ . The practice continues to pass information from NAPP out to the patient group and, if you have signed up to the group, I can provide a sign on and password so that you can access the members site.
We are also delighted that the NAPP Conference is in Bristol this year and the practice is happy to pay fro up to 2 patients to attend. (1 place is taken already so you will need to be quick!)
Feedback
There is a link to the notes made at the December meeting above.
Not many direct quotes from patients and I will post a further note after we have had our next Patient Group Meeting to discuss the results of the March Survey.
If you have any comments on this or anything else that we do please do not hesitate to get in touch.
More importantly, if you would like to get involved get in touch. The reception team have joining details ready and waiting or you can use the website.
Paul Mugford, Practice Manager
Paul.mugford@gp-L81041.nhs.uk 0117 3015253 March 2013