St
Paul’s Way Medical Centre
2014/2015 Annual Patient
Participation Report
Report on survey carried out with patients at
St Paul’s Way Medical Centre
Information on MEEBBB
MEEBBB Health CIC took over St Paul’s Way Medical Centre from 1 st April 2011.
Since taking over this GP practice, the long-term vision of MEEBBB Health has been
to improve access to healthcare services for patients. Through research MEEBBB
Health CIC aims to identify areas for improvement and implement strategies to
enhance the quality of service offered to patients.
1. Patient Participation Group (PPG) Priorities
St Pauls Way Medical Centre conducts patient surveys during the course of the year
to determine the level satisfaction amongst our patients and service users. The
Questionnaire is developed with the involvement of our PPG members who also
supports the Practice in reviewing the survey results and identifying 3 key areas for
improvement to ensure a better service to our patients and service users. We also
take into consideration, the previous year’s feedback from patients regarding their
experience.
PPG members agreed on including 13 Questions to be added to the questionnaire, 8
of which were from the previous year. This would enable the Practice and the
patients group to determine whether the changes made the year in response to the
survey, resulted in any positive outcomes. It would also highlight any new areas for
improvement.
Timelines for the process were agreed with the PPG members and they were kept
up to date with throughout the process.
Once results were analysed and discussed at the PPG meetings, 3 key priority areas
were identified, actions agreed and timelines agreed with the PPG members for
implementation of action plan.
2. Local Practice Survey
The PPG agree that we needed to have real time experience surveys. The
questionnaires handed out by the clinician after their appointment and were
completed in the waiting area with the help of the Patient Advisor.
The aim of the 2014/15 survey was to:
 Identify areas for improvement. A Practice survey was developed based on
the issues raised from the PPG and other feedback the practice received such
as complaints and CQC reports.
 To strengthen and develop better patient relationships.
 To understand and cater for the needs of the patient population
The survey was designed to determine areas of improvement and to ascertain what
improvements had been made since MEEBBB Health CIC were awarded the APMS
Contract. Although it was not possible to engage with all patients registered at the
practice the sample used for this Survey does represent the opinions of the vast
majority, based on the demographics of the sample population. PPG Members were
consulted and they felt the survey should cover the main areas, such as access,
seeing a doctor of their own choice, efficiency of the practice, reception staff, online
services, consultation experience and telephone appointments as the practice uses
a telephone triage system as well as providing routine telephone consultations.
The survey that was carried out focussed on the basic services that the practice
provides:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The experience of booking appointments
Accessibility of the telephone service
Being able to see a doctor of choice
The length of time waiting in the practice
Consultation experience with the GP/Nurse
Online services
7. Quality of Reception staff
8. Telephone Appointments
9. Overall satisfaction
The survey was analysed and results discussed at both practice meetings and the
PPG meetings. Actions recommended by the PPG have been implemented and
reported back to the PPG.
2.1 The Response
A number of questionnaires were printed and handed out to patients and 100 valid
responses were recorded. The questionnaires were handed out over a period of
October 2014 to December 2014 to get an average of the service we provided over a
longer term to see if we were consistent in our service, the time frame was agreed by
the PPG to make sure that the responses provided a good indication especially
because of the upcoming holiday period which might have created some anomalies.
Responses were received from all different age groups, genders, ethnicities and
newly registered patients
The survey consisted of these main topics and questions. Here are the findings.
1. Speed at which the telephone was answered initially
Respondents commented on the speed in which the telephone was answered.
Overall 41% of the sample population said the telephone waiting times were
poor, 28% said it was satisfactory, 19% said it was good and 6% said it was
excellent.
2. Length of time waited for the appointment
36% of patient’s respondents said the length of time it they waited to book their
appointment was poor, 36% said it was satisfactory, 19% said it was good and
9% said it was excellent.
3. Convenience of day and time of your appointment
19% of our sample population said that the convenience of their appointment was
poor, 30% said it was satisfactory, 43% said it was good and 8% said it was
excellent.
4. Seeing the Doctor of their choice
32% of patients said that seeing a Doctor of their choice was poor, 28% said it
was satisfactory, 34% said good and 9% said it was excellent.
5. Length of time waiting to check in
No patients claimed that the waiting time to check in was poor. 13% of the
sample population said it was poor, 40% said it was satisfactory, 38% said it was
good and 9% said it excellent.
6. Length of time waiting to see the Doctor or Nurse
23% of our sample population said that the waiting time to see a clinician was
poor. 32% said it was satisfactory, 32% said it was good and 11% said it was
excellent.
7. Opportunity of speaking to a Doctor or Nurse on the telephone when
necessary
Access to telephone appointments is vital to the patients at the practice, 23% of
patients said access was poor, 38% said it was satisfactory, 19% said it was
good and 9% of patients said it was excellent.
8. How helpful do you find the receptionists?
Frontline staff is vital to the practice and it is the first point of access that our
patients have. It is important that our patients are happy with the care they
receive at front desk and over the phone. 9% of our sample population said that
the receptionists were poor, 36% said it was satisfactory, 40% said it was good,
13% said it was excellent.
9. Experience of online booking system
Our online service has been running for just over a year and demand for our
online services has increased. We now have over 1,800 patients who are actively
registered to use the service. 8% of our sample population said it was poor due to
connection errors, 32% said it was satisfactory, 11% said it was good and 2%
said it was satisfactory.
10. Experience of ordering your repeats online
Ordering your medication online has been introduced towards the second half of
2014. It is a fairly new service and is becoming more and more popular with our
patients. 4% of our sample population said it was poor, 28% said it was
satisfactory, 13% said it was good and 8% said it was excellent.
11. Experience of your last consultation with a Nurse
It is important that our patients are happy with the consultations they receive with
our nurses, 15% of the sample population said that it was satisfactory. 42% said
it was good and 43% said that it was excellent.
12. Experience of your last consultation with a GP
It is important that our patients are happy with the consultations they receive with
our nurses,, 6% of our sample population said that their last consultation was
poor, 30% said it was satisfactory, 32% said it was good and 32% also said it
was excellent.
13. Overall quality of your care
Patients at the practice rated their overall satisfaction at the service they
received. 8% claimed it was poor, 36% claimed it was satisfactory, 47% said it
was good and 9% said that it was excellent.
2.2. Detailed findings
The following summarises the results of the survey and reflects the thoughts and
views captured through the questionnaire.
2.2.1 Speed at which the telephone was answered initially
The first part of the survey focused on how quickly were the phones was being
answered. From the sample population, 41% said it was poor, 28% of patients said it
was satisfactory and 25% of patients said it was either good or excellent.
Telephone access
(Q1: Speed at which the telephone was answered initially?)
6%
6%
19%
No Experience
Poor
41%
Satisfactory
Good
Excellent
28%
2.2.2 When appointment was booked by patients
Patients were asked how long they had to wait for their appointment until they were
booked. This would give us an indication as to how good access was and how long
they waited to for the appointment with the clinician. Eg: if a patient fell ill and got an
appointment the next day, this should be positive. 36% of the sample population
claimed that the wait for the appointment was poor, 36% said it was fair and 28%
said it was good or excellent.
Appointment booking
(Q2: Length of time you had to wait for an appointment?2.2.3 Appointment
Convenience
The population were also asked whether the appointment time and date was
convenient for them. This question is related to access, this indicates if the practice
could offer appointments to the patient at a time they would be able to attend without
any issues. 19% of the sample population said it was poor, 30% said it was
satisfactory, 43% said it was good and 8% said it was excellent.
Appointment booking
(Q3: Convenience of day and time of your appointment)
8%
19%
No Experience
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
43%
Excellent
30%
2.2.4 Patients being able to see the doctor of their choice
The ability of seeing a doctor of their choice is also part of access. From the patients
that were surveyed over 23% said that their experience of seeing a doctor of their
choice was poor, 28% said it was satisfactory, 34% said it was good and 9% said it
was excellent.
Choice of doctor
(Q4: Seeing the doctor of your choice?)
9%
6%
23%
No Experience
Poor
Satisfactory
34%
Good
Excellent
28%
2.2.5 Patients arriving themselves
Over 47% of the sample group claimed that the speed it took to arrive themselves
was good or excellent and 40% said it was satisfactory. This indicated how efficient
the reception staffs are and this would in turn mean that patients were arrived on
time and not seen quicker as they were not late for their appointment. 13% said that
it was poor.
Arriving themselves at the practice
(Q5: Length of time waiting to check in at reception?)
9%
13%
No Experience
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
38%
Excellent
40%
2.2.6 Waiting time to see clinician
43% of patients said that the waiting times at the surgery were good and excellent.
34% of patients said that the waiting times were satisfactory. 23% of patients said
that this was poor.
Waiting Time
(Q6: Length of time waiting to see the Doctor or Nurse?)
11%
23%
No Experience
Poor
Satisfactory
32%
Good
Excellent
34%
2.2.7 Telephone Appointments
The practice provides access to telephones appointments; this is either a Triage
Telephone appointment system or a Routine telephone appointment. 66% of the
sample population said that getting a telephone appointment was satisfactory, good
or excellent. 23% of the sample population said that getting a telephone appointment
was poor.
Access to Telephone Consultations with a Doctor
(Q7: Opportunity of speaking to a Doctor or Nurse on the telephone when
necessary?)
9%
11%
19%
No Experience
23%
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
Excellent
38%
2.2.8 Reception team
The reception team are an integral part of the practice, they are the first line of
support for our patients and it is vital that our patients feel that the reception team
are competent. 89% of our sample group thought that the reception team were
satisfactory, good or excellent. This is a very good encouraging figure.
(Q8: How helpful do you find the receptionists?)
13%
2%
9%
No Experience
Poor
Satisfactory
36%
Good
Excellent
40%
2.2.9 Experience of online booking system
Our online booking system is fairly new and has been live for almost a year. This has
been a growing aspect of the service we provide. 47% of our sample population said
that they had no experience of our online service. 53% who have experience of our
online booking system said that it was either satisfactory, good or excellent.
(Q9: Experience of our online booking system)
2%
11%
No Experience
47%
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
32%
Excellent
8%
2.2.10 Experience of ordering your repeat medication online
The online system allows patients to order their medications online. 49% said that
the online medication requesting systems was satisfactory, good or excellent.
(Q10: Experience of ordering your repeat medication online)
8%
13%
No Experience
47%
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
Excellent
28%
4%
2.2.11 Experience of your last consultation with a GP
The quality of our Doctors is very important. It is important that the consultation
quality is very good. 94% of the sample population said that their consultation
experience with their GP was satisfactory, good and excellent, 32% said it was
excellent, which was very encouraging.
6%
32%
No Experience
30%
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
Excellent
32%
2.2.12 Experience of your last consultation with a Nurse
15% our sample population said that their consultation with the nurse was
satisfactory. 42% said it was good and 43% said that their experience was excellent.
These results are very positive.
(Q12: Experience of your last consultation with a Nurse)
15%
No Experience
43%
Poor
Satisfactory
Good
Excellent
42%
2.2.13 Practice satisfaction
This question would provide an indication at the satisfaction level of the practice
population; however, this is very limited as to get accurate results the whole of the
practice population would need to be asked. 36% of the sample population said that
their overall satisfaction, 46% of the sample population is good, 9% said it was
excellent.
Overall Satisfaction
(Q13: My overall satisfaction with this practice)
9%
8%
No Experience
Poor
Satisfactory
36%
47%
Good
Excellent
The results were discussed at Patient Participation Group meeting.
3. Discussion With Patient Participation Group on Survey
results
The results and finding of the survey was taken to the patient group in December
2015. The findings were discussed at length with the group. The statistical findings
was shown to the group and discussed. All of the changes that need to be actioned
will be given a deadline of the 31st of March 2015.
Action Plan
Question 1 – Speed at which the telephones was answered
The PPG agreed that telephone access was a priority and knew that the wait in the
telephones can be long, especially during peak times. The findings showed that 41%
of the people who took part in the local practice survey said it was poor.
Changes queried by PPG
Some members of the PPG wanted the practice to query having a queuing system in
place where they would be told where in the queue they were. The practice was
asked to introduce more online appointments so that patients will not have to always
call to book an appointment. Demand for online appointments has increased as the
practice now has over 1,800 patients registered online.
Action
Practice Management met with three different telecoms providers to identify what
key features would be suitable for its practice population.
Outcome
A new telephone system introduced in January 2015 with features such as


Patient health information during peak times/ pre-recorded options directing
the patients
Call position and average waiting time for each caller on hold







Reduced DNA’s with your dedicated 24hr cancellation option
Opening and closing times of surgery
Hold up to 10 calls in the PPLP Cloud
Improved patient access
Inbuilt disaster recovery so you never miss any calls should the lines go down
Reduced patient complaints due to ease of access into the surgery
Improved patient access
Question 2 – Length of time you had to wait for an appointment
The PPG looked at the results from the survey. This gave them an indication as to
how good access was and how long they waited to for the appointment with the
clinician. They were pleased with the on the day appointment system as it allowed
them to be seen as an emergency. 36% of the sample population claimed that the
wait for the appointment was poor and 64% said that it was either satisfactory, good
or excellent.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG wanted more routine appointments available online.
Action
The practice is to discuss the number of appointments released as well as those that
are released online.
Outcome
The practice increased the number of routine appointments offered to its patients
and increased number of appointments offered online due to the demand of patients
using our online services.
Question 3 – Convenience of day and time of your appointment
The PPG agreed with the results but raised the issue of availability of morning and
late evening appointments .
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG wanted more routine early and late evening appointments
Action
Management to review its appointment systems to reflect the needs of its population
Outcome
Release of early morning and late evening appointments bookable via face to face or
online
Question 4 – Seeing the Doctor of your choice
The PPG wanted to see their choice of Doctor where possible.It has been discussed
previously that we would try to book patients in with a choice of their GP if they were
willing to wait. 23% of the sample population said that seeing a Doctor of their choice
was poor.
Changes queried by PPG
Having a named GP has always been a priority for the PPG. This was discussed just
as it was the previous year. The PPG have queried where the practice was in terms
of having a named GP for every patient. The PPG have been informed that the
practice has already been allocating named GP’s for selected patients who fall under
a certain criteria.
Action
Named GP has been allocated throughout the year to over 65’s, Palliative Care
Patients and to those at high risk of admission and to ensure continuity of patient
care.
Outcome
The practice has had a pilot project of the micro team to help with this project. A
small team of GPs working together in a practice covering an allocated number of
patients. This was started to strengthen team working in the practice and enhance
the patient care.
Question 5 – Length of time in waiting to check in with reception
The PPG discussed the result and 87% of the sample group claimed that the speed
it took to arrive themselves was satisfactory, good or excellent
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG members were satisfied with the feature of the self-arrival screen.
Action


The reception team have been informed to encourage patients to use the selfarrival terminal so that they would be able to arrive themselves next time they
arrive.
Different language added to the kiosk to encourage patients to use the system
Outcome
The reception team have been informed to encourage patients to use the self-arrival
machine and to show them how to use it if they are unsure about anything;
Question 6 – Length or time waiting to see the Doctor or Nurse
The PPG looked at the results and raised the issue of 23% of patients said that the
waiting time to see a clinician was poor. The PPG was explained as to why the
Doctors run behind in their clinics, this is mainly due to rising emergencies and
language barriers, they understood that and agreed that patients do sometimes take
longer with Doctors.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG would like to know if they could have an information screen in the waiting
area that gave out key health information and could tell you if there is a delay time
with a particular Doctor or Nurse.
Action
The Practice should look into a way to notify patients when clinicians are running
behind in their clinics.
Outcome


Practice JX board inform patients of any delays in clinics
Self-arrival screen prompts patients on arrivals if there is a delay
Questions 7 – Opportunity of speaking to a Doctor on the telephone when
necessary
The PPG wanted to discuss access to telephones appointments; this is either a
Telephone Triage appointment system or a Routine telephone appointment. 23% of
the sample population said that getting a telephone appointment was poor.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG would like routine telephone consultations to be monitored as sometimes
they are more than 2 week wait.
Action
The practice will discuss and look into the average wait for a routine telephone
appointment and monitor to make sure that there are no delays for routine
appointments.
Outcome
The practice manager to be informed by the reception team if there is a delay with
routine telephone consultations so that more clinics can be added. PPG were
informed that routine telephone consultations are always available for patients to be
booked at a convenient time and date.
Question 8 - How helpful do you find the receptionist?
This was a very important question as the staffing at the practice has changed and
this would give the PPG and the practice an idea of how the patients have taken to
our reception team. 9% of the sample group said that the receptionists were poor.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG asked if the reception team were being up to date with their training.
Action
The practice to look at any other training that may benefit the reception team as they
have already been on customer service workshops and chaperone subjects.
Outcome
The practice encourages its reception team with annual customer service training/
basic life support/ Information Governance and much more.
Question 9 – Experience of online booking system
47% of our sample population had no experience with the online system. 45% of our
sample population said the online bookings system was satisfactory, good and
excellent. The online booking system has been very popular and appointments are
always booked when they are online.
Changes queried by the PPG
The PPG asked if more appointments could be released online.
Action
See action on question 3
Outcome
See outcome on question 3
Question 10 - Experience of ordering repeat medication online
47% of our patients have no experience of ordering their repeats online. The 49% of
our sample population said that our online repeat medication service was
satisfactory, good and excellent.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG were generally very happy with the online repeat medication system and
praised that it was very convenient as they could order it from home in case they
forgot to place an order for it. The PPG asked the practice to advertise this more to
help prevent build up in the queues, especially when the PPG were informed of the
electronic prescription, which would in turn help queues in reception.
Action
To advertise this service within the practice and inform patients so they can use this
service.
Outcome
Advertisements has been placed within the practice in forms of posters, electronic
posters and leaflets to inform patients of this service. The pharmacy opposite the
practice has also been advertising this new service available to patients.
Question 11 – Experience of your last consultation with a nurse
100% of our sample population have said that their last experience with a nurse has
been satisfactory, good and excellent. 43% said that it was excellent and 42% said it
was good.
Changes Queried by the PPG
Nurse appointments are open for patients to be able to book at any time. The PPG
were very satisfied with the Nurses at our practices, including the recruitment of a
new full time practice nurs
Question 12 – Experience of your last consultation by with a GP
94% of our sample population said that their last consultation was either satisfactory,
good and excellent. This was very encouraging; especially where 32% said it was
excellent and 32% said it was good.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG queried what could be done about GP’s running late in their clinics. This
has been monitored by the practice and the PPG have been informed the reasons
why a GP may be running behind in their clinic times. They were informed of the
social demographics and language barriers which is one of the reasons why the
GP’s run late. The practice population are in need to the GP’s time to be able to
have their health problems resolved.
Action
Patients to be informed when clinicians are running late by the reception team.
Outcome
The clinicians have been informed to let the reception team know when they are
running late. The reception team have been asked to monitor the clinics and inform
patients when the clinician is running late. The JX board has a feature for the
practice to write a message for patients to see, this is being updated when clinicians
are running late.
Question 13 – Overall quality of your care
This was discussed as to what some of the other issue were and what the reason
could be for 8% of the sample population to be called poor. 9% of the sample
population said that the overall quality was excellent, 47% said it was good and 36%
said it was satisfactory. This was very encouraging as the majority of the sample
population were very happy with the overall care.
Changes queried by PPG
The PPG felt the Patient Advisor to be very helpful when they had issues at the
practice. The PPG felt that other patients would benefit from knowing that there is
someone around at the practice they can speak to if they had any concern or issues.
Action
The practice should create a poster for patients regarding the availability of a patient
advisor.
Outcome
A poster was created for patients to be made aware when and what times the patient
advisor would be around if they wanted to speak to him.