SUMMARY OF THE NOVEMBER 2014 SURVEY CARRIED OUT BY THE SANDHURST GROUP
PRACTICE FOCUS GROUP
The Patient Focus Group carried out a survey in November to seek the opinions of patients in Sandhurst
and Owlsmoor towards services offered by the Practice and local Pharmacies.
The comments recorded reflect the views of the 667 patients that completed the Survey either on line or in
the two surgeries. From these the following issues were evident:
There was a similar response ratio of Male to Female responses in both surgeries and over two thirds of
those responding had an age of over 45 years.
Appointment with own Doctor
70% of responses stated that it was either Very Important or Preferable to see their own doctor,
irrespective of appointment type. There were a lot of comments on this topic but most commented on the
long time they have to wait for an appointment and the reasons why they wanted to see their own doctor.
Practice Services
The use and rating of the Practice services listed, identified a high proportion of those surveyed used
services such as Blood tests(70%), Treatment by a Nurse(62%) and the Flue Vaccination Clinics (47%). Some
services were not commonly used or were not even known about such as ‘Quit Smoking’ and Menopause
Advice. However in all the services surveyed a very high proportion of patients using them, thought they
were excellent or good.
Pharmacies
The most commonly used Pharmacies are Boots for the Sandhurst Practice and McParlands for Owlsmoor,
mainly because of location. However comments made reflect different opinions about the quality of the
services provided.
Repeat Prescriptions
54% of patients still request Repeat Prescriptions by visiting the Surgery with 25% applying ‘on line’. There
were some concerns about Surgeries and/or Pharmacies not responding to requests , prescriptions not
being ready being lost or not all the medication being available, thus requiring extra journeys. (Sandhurst
Surgery)
The number of patients having prescription drugs delivered to their home was negligible as this service in
not regularly offered. However quite a few elderly patients stated that they would like it to be an option
offered by all Pharmacies.
Other services provided by the Pharmacies were also surveyed and ‘Asking advice’ (28%), and purchasing
cosmetics and toiletries (27%) were the most common. With Flu Vaccinations, purchasing baby products
and Health Checks rating only 4% each.
The Patient Focus Group has passed the data collected and analysed to the Practice and other relevant
parties.