Transforming Primary Care in Gosport – what have local people told us
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our recent survey. Almost 1,400 local
people completed the survey which sought your views on local GP services. These are being
used to help us ensure GP services meet your needs.
The survey results, independently analysed by Hampshire Healthwatch, and further
independent feedback sought by Healthwatch are available in a detailed report on their
website at www.healthwatchhampshire.co.uk/our-work-gp-services. Highlights include:
Who replied to our survey?
The survey was completed by almost 1,400 people. Of these:
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78% of respondents are female
3% of respondents are 24 years old or younger, 52% are 25 to 54 years old, 38% are
55 to 74 years old and 7% are over 75 years old
34% have a long term condition
19% care for dependent children and 8% are responsible for caring for a
parent/friend/relative
Every Gosport practice had responses from patients registered with them.
What did they say about when they feel they need to be seen on the same day?
Most of those who responded said they would feel confident seeing a GP other than their own
(83%) or an experienced nurse (68%) but less than half would feel confident seeing a
pharmacist (40%). The key themes for lack of confidence were people perceiving
pharmacists as not as qualified as their GP or nurse and some only wanting to see their GP.
The majority (82%) said they would be happy to be seen somewhere other than their own
practice if they needed a same-day appointment.
What did they say about when they need routine advice or care?
43% said it is reasonable to wait four to seven days for a routine appointment with 36%
saying one to three days. This was reflected in the responses from those with a long term
condition.
35% feel they should be able to book a routine appointment three or more weeks in advance
with 33% saying one to two weeks. This was also reflected in the responses from those with a
long term condition.
Most feel confident seeing a GP other than their own (86%) or an experienced nurse (77%)
with 46% saying they would feel confident seeing a pharmacist. The responses from those
with a long term condition were slightly different but with most saying they would feel
confident in seeing a GP other than their own (82%) or experienced nurse (73%) with 42%
saying they would feel confident seeing a pharmacist.
The majority (80%) would be happy to be seen somewhere other than their own practice if
they needed a routine appointment. The response from those with a long term condition was
lower at 75%.
What did they say about when a loved one they care for needs care or advice?
There were differences in responses from those with a caring responsibility with 68% caring
for an adult saying that person would be happy to see a GP other than their own and 59% an
experience nurse. However, 87% of those caring for children said they would be happy to see
a GP other than their own and 77% an experienced nurse.
82% of those caring for a child said they would be happy to be seen somewhere other than
their own GP surgery. This was different to the responses from those with a long term
condition (78%) or caring for an adult (66%) which showed less would be happy to be seen
somewhere else.
What did they say about how they are seen?
93% would be happy to be seen by another healthcare professional if advised to. 55% would
be happy to do so if advised by their GP with 38% happy to do so if advised to by their GP or
practice receptionist. The majority of those who would not be happy to be advised by a
receptionist said this was because receptionists are not qualified to give this advice.
76% would be happy to talk to a healthcare professional over the phone and about 34% said
they would be happy to used Skype, email or a web-based consultation.
71% would like GP practices to provide services earlier in the day and 93% said they would
like them provided later.
95% would like any GP services provided at the weekends to be on Saturdays and 80% on
Sundays.
67% would like all of the GP practices across Gosport to manage their appointments in the
same way with 30% saying they don’t mind/know.
Developing a new way of offering same-day appointments – what do you think?
Did you know that most Mondays the 11 GP practices across Gosport typically receive 700
phone calls for a same-day appointment? This means that the GP practices need to make sure
they keep enough appointments each day for those patients that need to be seen as well as
providing routine appointments that patients can book in advance.
We know that local people can find it difficult to get routine appointments and, from the
survey results, that they are happy to travel to see a different GP or an experienced nurse.
Taking this feedback into consideration the GP practices have been working together to see
how same-day appointments can be offered differently, to ensure everyone who needs advice
or to be seen that day is offered the support they need. It will also help local people to be able
to book the routine appointments they need.
Following lots of discussions and considering the feedback from local people the GPs are
exploring setting up a same-day appointment service. This would be based at Gosport War
Memorial hospital which is accessible by local buses and has car parking available, and run
by local GPs, nurses and practice staff.
Patients would phone their GP practice as normal and, if they select the same-day
appointment option, their call will be put through to the same-day service and answered by a
local receptionist. The receptionist would take some basic details from the patient and then
arrange for an experienced nurse or GP to call them back. Patients would be called back in
order of clinical priority with the nurse or GP having a detailed conversation with the patient.
This could result in the patient being given advice on how to take care of themselves,
arrangements being made for the prescribed medication the patient needs to be available at a
local pharmacy or the patient being asked to come in to see a GP or nurse.
We know there are some patients who will not be able to travel to the service at the hospital
and arrangements can be made for them to be seen at their own GP practice on that day.
We would welcome your feedback on this idea and how we could offer local people sameday appointments in this way. If you have any thoughts, ideas or concerns that you would like
us to take into consideration please email fgccg.enquiries@nhs.net so we can collate all of the
feedback we receive. Please mark your email ‘Same-day appointment service’ in the subject
box. The deadline for feedback is Friday September 4.