Gosforth Valley Medical Practice
Dr Richard Bull
Dr Rebecca Belfitt
Gosforth Valley Medical Centre
Gorsey Brigg
Dronfield
Derbyshire
S18 8UE
9th March 2012
Dear PPG member,
Many thanks for attending the PPG meeting on Thursday 23rd February 2012. Your attendance was very
much appreciated. I would just like to summarise the main action points from the meeting:
Practice Patient Survey 2011-12
The practice presented the results of the patient survey. A full analysis of the survey will be available as part
of the annual PPG report, which will be published by the end of March. The report will be available on the
practice website www.gvmc.org.uk and copies will be available from reception. The main points are
summarised below:
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81 questionnaires were completed, representing 2% of the practice population. This meets the
recommendations set by the Primary Care Trust (PCT), but does not represent a sufficient
proportion of the population to be seen as statistically significant.
The under 35 age group was under-represented.
All 10 questions on the front of the questionnaire had an average rating of at least “good”.
Best performing areas were:
o Ability to book ahead for a specific date & time.
o Greeting & courtesy of doctors and nurses when you attend an appointment.
o Efficiency & courtesy of reception staff when dealing with your enquiries.
o Access to advice from a nurse over the phone.
The worst performing areas were:
o Ability to get an appointment on the day you call.
o Length of time spent in the waiting room.
o Access to the doctor of your choice.
68% said they were unaware that they could book an appointment over the internet.
47% said they were unaware that they could order repeat medication over the internet.
59% said they were unaware that we operated a citizens’ advice bureau.
100% stated that overall they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service.
100% stated that they would recommend the practice to a friend or relative.
We spent some time discussing the results and we debated various opportunities to further improve our
performance. The following changes had been recently introduced by the practice:
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Annual reviews for chronic disease management will be grouped together and reviewed at the same
appointment where possible to reduce the number of occasions patients need to attend the surgery.
The availability of doctors (including the partners) to speak to patients over the telephone has been
increased. This should allow better access to all doctors and provide patients with a better
opportunity to resolve issues without the need to attend the surgery.
Where there is no appointment availability for dealing with urgent issues, patients will be called back
by a doctor rather than a nurse. This is due to the increased availability of the doctors.
GP Registrars will now be available to consult until 5:30 pm. This will give better access for patients
who normally work during the day.
Telephone 01246 419040
Fax: 01246 581888
The following suggestions were agreed to be taken forward by the practice:
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Increased publicity of the services provided by the practice. In particular:
o Ordering repeat medication over the internet.
o Booking appointments over the internet.
o Availability of telephone consultations with a doctor.
o Citizens Advice Bureau.
o Availability of double appointments with a doctor.
o Better publicity about GP Registrars (including their names)
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Publicity to include:
o Practice leaflet
o Text reminders
o Recorded message on telephone (needs to be brief)
o Website – this needs to be kept up to date!
o Messages on prescriptions
o TV screen – be careful how much text is put onto each screen as it can be difficult to read
before next slide loads.
o Transfers for windows – the practice agreed to consider this as an option.
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More phlebotomy appointments
o The practice agreed to monitor demand against the availability of appointments.
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ID Badges
o The practice agreed to consider providing staff with ID badges. Badges should be visible to
patients and the design should be such that the badge does not cause damage to clothing. It
was suggested that magnetic badges may provide the best solution. Badges should display
name & job role.
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Improved confidentiality at reception
o We were unable to agree a solution for this as the size of the waiting room prevents the use
of most physical barrier types. Keep back signs have recently been introduced and have
helped a little.
o The TV screen and radio are intended to divert attention away from reception activities.
Summary Care Record
Stuart Tilley explained that all patients would soon receive a letter about the introduction of the Summary
Care Record. This is being introduced nationally and is currently being rolled out in Derbyshire. The
Summary Care Record (SCR) is:
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Electronic patient summary containing
o Medication
o Allergies
o Adverse reactions
It will be available for access by authorised healthcare staff in an urgent or emergency situation but only
when the patient gives “permission to view”. This will be requested by the healthcare professional on each
occasion that access is required.
The SCR is created automatically unless the patient opts out using the opt out form that is sent with the
introductory letter & leaflet. Patients can opt for additional information such as significant diagnoses or care
plans to be added to the SCR, but have to give their GP explicit consent for this.
New Coffee Shop
Richard Bull advised the group that the owners of the building have applied for planning permission to build a
coffee shop adjoining the practice. This will be located on the end of the medical centre next to the main
entrance door to the practice. This business is fully independent from the medical practice.
Telephone 01246 419040
Fax: 01246 581888
And Finally…
Finally, the PPG extended a vote of thanks to the practice staff for providing an excellent level of service.
The next meeting of the practice PPG has been scheduled for 7:30pm on Thursday 14th June at Gosforth
Valley Medical Practice.
The next meeting of the Dronfield Locality PPG has been scheduled for 7:00pm on Tuesday 3rd April at the
Civic Hall, Civic Centre, Dronfield. Subjects to be covered at this meeting are:
 Introduction to commissioning & commissioning organisations
 Group discussion about how we can, locally, make the best use of public resources
 Dronfield locality update
 Question & answer session
This meeting will be publicised at each practice and on the local notice boards, but please feel free to invite
others to come along.
Yours sincerely
Stuart Tilley
Practice Manager
Telephone 01246 419040
Fax: 01246 581888