Listening to Patient Views
The patient forum placed a suggestion box in the surgery at Burnopfield in Ocober 2010 and we would like to thank all patients who have responded with ideas. The following have already been implemented:
- Clock placed in Reception
- Staff all now have name badges
- A request was received to turn the heating down. This is thermostatically controlled and set on a timed and seasonal basis. We have reviewed the settings and hope that this is more comfortable for patients.
- A request to remove abbreviations from annual review letters will be fully implemented from letters due for issue from December 2011 onwards.
The following suggestion is under review - UPDATED !
1. A request to review the availability of GP appointments on a Monday evening.
In line with the Government scheme to provide extended access to GP appointments which must be either before or after the practice standard opening times (8.30am / 6.00pm) we previously provided GP and Nurse appointments between 6.00pm and 7.30pm each Monday evening. Following a review of the scheme for 2011/12 the Government significantly reduced the amount of money paid to practies to provide this additional access.
We therefore reviewed the provision and rather than not provide late access at all (the scheme is voluntary) we decided to provide cover by Nurse Practitioners and Practice Nurses which can be achieved with the funds available. Early GP appointments on a Wednesday from 7:30am are still available.
The Nurse practitioners in the practice are fully qualified, can deal with a wide range of conditions and can prescribe all medication other than controlled drugs.
We do appreciate that this can restrict later access for working patients and are including this in a review of all appointment access which is currently underway.
UPDATE 12 December 2011
Following a review of appointments in the practice linked to our Access Pilot (see what's new tab above) we have now more than doubled the number of appointments available after 4.30pm each weekday.
The Nurse Practitioner access will continue on a Monday evening with the last appointment being 19:15pm as will the current level of 25 appointments each week available after 16:30pm. Added to this will be a further 27 GP appointments after 6:30pm each week.
We hope that working parents and those with children will find these later appointments useful.
We are very grateful for the following suggestions which unfortunately cannot be implemented
1) A request was received to not have the TV playing in the waiting room.
Whilst we understand that patients may feel that a TV's is inappropriate in a General Practice we do use these in reception to fulfill a number of requirements. Firstly, they do help to add background noise to improve confidentiality for patients at the reception desk. Secondly, they provide an important source of health related information and practice communications which would be impossible by using notice boards or leaflets alone.
2) A request for childrens toys in the waiting area.
These were removed in line with Infection Control guidelines following the Swine Flu Epidemic and this guidance is still considered to be "best practice" to prevent the general spread of infection.
3) A request for a water cooler/drinks dispenser for the waiting room.
A survey of the waiting room has indicated that there are few places that this equipment could be positioned to ensure the safety of small children in particular. Should any patient have a medical need for a drink of water whilst in the waiting room this can be requested via reception.