Survey Results

Queensway Medical Centre

Patient Participation Group Report

Queensway Medical Centre established a Patient Participation Group in 2008, with the first meeting held on 21st May. We have been extremely lucky in recruiting keen and proactive patients to the group. The Chairman, Peter Arnold has proved to be an invaluable asset, initiating such ideas as the patient newsletters. Another founder member, Glenys Malone very much enjoyed assisting us at the Practice, particularly with the annual flu clinics. Sadly our friend Glenys passed away this year – she will be greatly missed.

The composition of the group has changed over the last 3 years with members moving away and new members joining. We endeavour to recruit as diverse a group as possible, with regard to age, sex and ethnicity.

The Patient Participation Group met on 17th October 2011 to discuss the findings of the patient survey which was carried out during September. The survey results are detailed below. The results were discussed and suggestions made regarding changes in provision and manner of service delivery, in order to formulate an action plan setting out priorities and proposals arising.

Survey Results

Two hundred questionnaires were distributed randomly to patients, and completed surveys were collected by the Practice. The questions raised in the questionnaire addressed issues felt to be of most priority by the Practice and the Patient Participation Group.

Sustained efforts were made to distribute the surveys to all groups of registered patients; both male and female and within the following age ranges

a) Under 16 b) 17 – 24 c) 25 – 34 d) 35 – 44

e) 45 – 54 f) 55 – 64 g) 65 – 74 h) 75 – 84 i) Over 84

We wanted to reach as wide a range of patients as possible and the Chairman of our Patient Participation Group kindly produced a poster asking for help in translating the survey into Polish. This plea was successful and the Polish questionnaire was duly distributed as required. The survey forms included a separate sheet to collate ethnicity data including the age / sex. The Practice wanted the results to fully reflect the views of as wide a range of patients as possible.

The Practice was very keen that this Survey should give an accurate picture of patient satisfaction, to enable the Practice, along with the Patient Participation Group, to look at the way it works and to see if there could be any improvements made. The intention was for the results of the survey to be available for the autumn meeting of the PPG for discussion and action planning.

Questionnaires were subsequently entered on to an excel spreadsheet for analysis and report.

The Practice received 100% response. Survey responses were received from male and female patients, across all the age ranges, from the following ethnic groups:

It was noted that several patients did not complete all of the questions.

The following questions were asked and patients were asked to make the following response:-

Access to a Doctor or Nurse at QMC

When Obtaining a Repeat Prescription at QMC

11. Is my prescription ready on time?

12. Is my prescription correctly issued?

13. How are any queries about my prescription handled?

Obtaining Medical Test Results from QMC

14. Was I told when to contact you about my results?

15. Were my results available when I contacted you?

16. My level of satisfaction with the amount of information provided

17. My level of satisfaction with the manner in which the result was given

About the Staff at QMC

18. The information provided by the Reception staff

19. The helpfulness of the Reception staff

20. The information provided by other members of staff

21. The helpfulness of other members of staff

Results

Question 1. The speed with which the telephone was answered initially

Response 99.5%

Question 2. Speed with which the telephone was answered if call transferred

Response 94%

Question 3. Length of time I had to wait for an appointment

Response 97.5%

Question 4. The convenience of the day and time of my appointment

Response 96.5%

Question 5. Being able to see the doctor of my choice

Response 97.5%

Question 6. Length of time that I was waiting to check in

Response 98%

Question 7 Length of time I was waiting to see a doctor or nurse

Response 91%

Question 8 The opportunity to speak on the telephone to a doctor or nurse

Response 90%

Question 9 The opportunity of obtaining a home visit

Response 85%

Question 10 My level of satisfaction with the out-of-hours service

Response 84.5%

Question 11 Is my prescription ready on time?

Response 92%

Question 12 Is my prescription correctly issued?

Response 89%

Question 13 How are any queries about my prescription handled?

Response 89.5%

Qustion 14 Was I told when to contact you about my results?

Response 87.5%

Question 15 Were my results available when I contacted you?

Response 90.5%

Question 16 My level of satisfaction with the amount of information provided

Response 88%

Question 17 My level of satisfaction with the manner in which the result was given

Response 87%

Question 18 The information provided by the Reception staff

Response 96%

Question 19 The helpfulness of the Reception staff

Response 95.5%

Question 20 The information provided by other members of staff

Response 91%

Question 21 The helpfulness of other members of staff

Response 91.5%

Survey Overview

An extremely good response was received for the patient survey with all forms being returned. The responses were from a wide variety of patients, both in terms of age and ethnicity; we certainly have a diverse patient population at Queensway.

Not all of the questions were answered on all of the forms but a minimum of 84.5% response to the questions was obtained. This was for patient’s level of satisfaction with the out-of hours service; a service which 55.5% of the respondents did not have any experience of, so this was perfectly understandable.

Overall the results were very reassuring. The helpfulness of the staff at the Practice was rated at good / very good or excellent by 80% of our patients with very few poor ratings – less that 1%

In general access to a Doctor or Nurse scored very well, with very few poor ratings. A high percentage of patients did not have experience of asking to speak to a doctor on the telephone or requesting a home visit. This would explain the rather disappointing percentages for these questions; no request for an urgent visit would be denied and telephone consultations are generally quite readily available.

The one area which scored badly, with 18.5% patients rating the Practice as poor, was being able to see a doctor of choice. This is a consistent cause of concern with both patients and staff; there will always be doctors that are very popular, and obtaining an appointment with these doctors can be challenging.

Action Plan

After discussing the above the following recommendations were made and agreed:-

October 2011

Update