Market Harborough & Bosworth Partnership
Partners: Dr Fiona Bishop, Dr Thomas Blake, Dr Hamant Mistry, Dr Jon Crowley, Dr Hugh Delargy, Dr Philip Healey, Dr Mark Yates & Dr Rahul Tosar
67 Coventry Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9BX
Tel: 01858 464242
Fax: 01858 462929
VAT: 881 2038 33
Web: www.mh&bp.co.uk
2014/15 Patient Participation Annual Report
1. Our Patient Participation Group (PPG)
The Patient Participation Group is well established and covers Market Harborough Medical Centre
and the Husbands Bosworth Surgery. The Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary are appointed at an
Annual Meeting, which is open to all patients and members of the public. There are 12 patient
representatives whose names are as follows:Alec Browne (Chair); Christine Saint (Vice Chair); Jennifer Besbrode; Mike Cheeseman; Maria
Bukowska; Gaynor Sandercock; Brian Smith; Sally Jones; Michael Edwards; Chrissie Willis;
Annette Rogers, Sheila Pendered.
Members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and some are active with other health groups
locally (eg Diabetes UK, Healthwatch).
The PPG meetings are held monthly with members meeting on alternate months with the practice
and the Business and/or Practice Manager attend along with Reception Supervisor and Dr
Crowley.
The Group is affiliated to NAPP (The National Association for Patient Participation) the body that
oversees and advises Patient Participation groups.
The PPG Chair and a Management Representative from the Practice attend The PPG Chairs
Network Event Meetings which are organised by East Leicestershire & Rutland Clinical
Commissioning Group and meet four times yearly. At these meetings information regarding local
health care and the role of PPG’s are shared with representatives from Leicestershire PPG’s. The
Chair reports back findings to the group.
2. Gaining The Views of patients
The PPG have attended the practices flu days in October. These are good networking
opportunities for the PPG.
The PPG have also run a number of “Meet & Greet” sessions over the majority of the year (often
up to three times a week) with the wider patient group at the surgeries. The purpose of these
sessions is to build a rapport with patients, promote the role of the PPG and to secure ideas from
patients about how services could be improved. Emerging themes are fed back to the practice and
acted upon were practical to do so.
3. Survey Choice
A menu of survey options were presented to the PPG part way through 2014/15 and the PPG
elected to ask patients regarding Appointments, Monday evening surgery, Minor Injuries Unit and
the Web-site.
4. Survey Methodology
414 patients were surveyed by the PPG in the waiting rooms during 2014/15 using a structured
interview technique.
Husbands Bosworth Surgery – Market Harborough Medical Centre – Market Harborough Minor Injury Unit – Welford Surgery
4. Survey Findings

Appointments:
24% of patients made their appointment on the day

24% of patients booked their appointment in the last 1-3 days

51% of patients took longer to book their appointment

59% of patients booked their appointment by telephone

31% of patients booked their appointment at reception

3% of patients booked their appointment on-line

4% of patients booked their appointment via their Doctor and 1% of patients booked their
appointment via their nurse.

14% of patients had booked a routine appointment

7% of patients had booked an urgent appointment

14% of patients encountered difficulties making their appointment

86% of patients did not experience any difficulty making their appointment

12% of patients encountered difficulties getting through on the telephone

65% of patients did not experience any difficulty getting through by telephone

Evening Surgery:
34% of patients were aware that the Medical Centre had a Monday evening surgery

48% of patients were not aware that the Medical Centre had a Monday evening surgery

1% of patients had used the Monday evening surgery
Minor Injuries Unit:

26% of patients were aware of the Minor Injuries Unit

2% of patients were not aware of the Minor Injuries Unit
Website:

71% of patients were aware of The Medical Centre & The Bosworth Surgery Website

24% of patients did not know the practices had a website

19% of patients were interested in becoming virtual members of the PPG

55% of patients were not interested in becoming virtual members of the PPG
5. Action Plan
A number of options were discussed with PPG members and it was decided to focus on the
practices websites as the priority area.
PPG members surveyed 178 patients in the waiting rooms and an action plan from the survey
results was formulated. It was decided that the Medical Centre and The Bosworth Surgery should
have a single website and research was carried out to investigate this. A marketing and web-site
design working party was formed which included a PPG Member, PPG Chair Person, Medical
Centre Staff and a GP Partner. Work still continues regarding this.
The PPG have their own sections within the Market Harborough Medical Centre and The Bosworth
Surgery Websites. There is information available about the PPG, a comments and suggestions
Husbands Bosworth Surgery – Market Harborough Medical Centre – Market Harborough Minor Injury Unit – Welford Surgery
link, the PPG Chairman’s annual report and the practice’s annual report as well as the most up to
date meeting minutes available to read.
Interactive Website
The surveys carried out by the PPG identified that many patients were interested in becoming
virtual members. E-mail addresses of interested patients were collated. Many debates and
discussions took place and a sub-committee was established to explore various options.
Facebook was considered however, the Partners sought advice from the BMA and due to
concerns about confidentiality they decided not to pursue this at this point in time. It was therefore,
decided that the PPG would have their own section on the practice website made more prominent
and use a comments and suggestions form to encourage virtual members to express their views
and participate in the monthly meetings.
Car Parking
Insufficient car parking was identified as a problem, which often delays patients when attending
appointments. The practice has tried to secure additional patient car parking from the St.
Dionysius Hall adjacent to the practice. Unfortunately this was not feasible. The practice has
previously commissioned a survey by an independent car park resolution company at some
considerable cost to analyse the flow of cars. The suggestion was to open up the staff car park to
patients. However, the health and safety implications due to the pedestrian crossing were of major
concern. We are currently in discussion with another car parking solution organisation to give us
some other options. We have a further meeting with them in March.
We have now devised an updated questionnaire asking the patients for their suggestions. This
feedback is in the process of being obtained.
Survey Questions:






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How far away from the surgery do you live? Within 1 mile, 3 miles, 5 miles, 10 miles
What form of transport do you use? Car, Motor Bike/Moped, Cycle, Mobility Scooter, Walk
Do you always use the surgery car park:? Always, Never, Occasionally
What problems do you encounter when parking?
What suggestions might you have for improving accessibility? E.g Disabled only and or parents
with small children, taxis only?
Any other suggestions?
If you use the Pharmacy to collect your prescription did you know they are open until 11pm
Monday to Saturday and 6pm on a Sunday.
Are you aware that you can book your Doctors appointment on line?
Inconsistent Customer Service
Many patients commended the staff on their customer service however, there were also a number
of negative comments raised in relation to the consistency of the service.
The practice has brought in a Training & Development Consultant with a brief to work closely with
the team leaders and receptionists to identify their training needs. The focus is on customer
service and standards and developing the receptionists skills further with a rolling programme of
training. This training is on-going into 2015. Feedback from the meet and greet sessions is
discussed with the reception supervisor and team leaders and then cascaded to the teams.
Waiting Room Seating
A survey has been carried out on the waiting room seating. Many patients have suggested that we
purchase some chairs with high arms for the infirm or disabled patients. A number of designs have
been identified and these are currently being discussed with the PPG for their feedback.
Husbands Bosworth Surgery – Market Harborough Medical Centre – Market Harborough Minor Injury Unit – Welford Surgery