Circuit Lane Surgery
Patient Participation Annual Report March 2014
The Patient Participation Group (PPG) for Circuit Lane Surgery was formed in
February 2009 and its first meeting was held on 26th March 2009. A Direct Enhanced
Service for Patient Participation was commissioned in the year 2011/2012 and as a
result it had been necessary to give more focus and emphasis to this already
established group. The group meets quarterly and is attended by one of the GP
Partners, Jenny Marnock (Practice Manager) and patient representatives from whom
there is an elected Chair.
The Practice and current group members remain conscious that the membership
continues to be biased towards the 50 – 80 age range and does not accurately
represent all ethnic groups within the practice population. We have continued to try
to encourage patients to join us to try and make us a truly representative patient
group.
To that end we have been widely advertising within the Practice and continue to do
so.





Brightly coloured posters have been placed in the waiting room, front
reception and other key areas where patient activity is high.
A message has been placed on our patient call display board in the waiting
room.
Practice staff advised of patients who they were aware had shown an interest
previously in the group.
Membership application forms have been placed on the front reception desk
and a supply have been placed in the waiting room.
A notice has been placed on our web-site notice board encouraging patients
to join our group and there is also a dedicated section for Patient
Participation.
It has been very encouraging that in the last three months there has seen an
increase in enquiries from patients who have expressed an interest in joining the
group which will spread the age, gender and ethnic representation. At the end of
March we have 13 current members with a further 4 who wish to come to the next
meeting in April 2014.
This year has also seen a Circuit Lane patient representative attending North & West
Reading Clinical Commissioning Group Patient Voice meetings.
Patient Survey 2012/2013 Action Plan Review
A meeting of the PPG had been held on 2nd May 2013 to discuss the results of the
survey and, having given the report consideration, an action plan had been agreed
highlighting two areas for improvement for the Practice that the patient group wished
us to focus on. The progress of the Action Plan was discussed at a meeting on 11th
September and the following was agreed:
1) Ability to see ones own doctor. There had been significant effort made trying to
improve this outcome but the retirement of full-time Partners and the difficulty of GP
recruitment had set back progress. The Practice will continue to try and increase
the number of GP hours available for booked appointments which should increase
the availability of patients own doctors. The situation will be monitored regularly by
the Practice.
2) The second area which had been highlighted for action was if a patient was willing
to see any doctor, could they be seen on the same day. An audit of the appointment
system was conducted during 3 weeks in June and it was found that only two
patients had declared that they had been unable to be seen on the same day during
that timeframe. The group felt that this was satisfactory and no further action would
be required on this indicator.
Patient Survey 2013/14
At the PPG meeting held on Thursday 2nd May 2013, the content of a patient survey
for 2013/14 was discussed and agreed by those present. It was agreed that the
questions should remain the same as the previous year to enable a real comparison
of results. The survey was made available to everyone who came in to the surgery
between Monday 3rd June and Friday 28th June. During that period, 421
questionnaires were completed, both in the surgery and on-line, and submitted for
inclusion in the survey.
Survey Analysis
Q1.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Satisfaction with receptionists – how helpful do you find the reception
team?
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Total
Q2.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Responses
31%
32%
25%
9%
1%
2%
100
Satisfaction with opening hours
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Total
Responses
32%
30%
29%
7%
2%
0%
100
Q3.
What additional hours would benefit you?
148 comments were received with most expressing satisfaction with the current
hours. 273 left the question blank. 7 stated that they would like Saturday afternoon
opening, 3 would like Sunday opening, 1 would like earlier opening in the morning,
and 3 would like the Practice to have later closing hours.
Q4.
1
2
3
4
5
6
How do you find contacting the surgery by telephone?
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Total
Q5.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Satisfaction with phone consultations with the doctor?
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Total
Q6.
1
2
3
4
5
Responses
14%
26%
28%
21%
5%
6%
100
Responses
29%
34%
24%
10%
3%
0%
100
Are you usually able to see your preferred doctor?
Always
Almost always
Some of the time
Almost never
Never
Total
Responses
14%
34%
39%
11%
2%
100
Q7.
1
2
3
4
5
If you are willing to see any doctor, can you get to be seen on the same
day?
Always
Almost always
Some of the time
Almost never
Never
Total
Q8.
1
2
3
4
5
6
% of responses
36%
31%
27%
5%
1%
100
How would you rate the care you receive from your doctor or nurse?
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Total
Q9.
1
2
3
4
5
6
Responses
28%
39%
21%
8%
3%
1%
100
How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the surgery?
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor
Very Poor
Total
Responses
27%
38%
22%
9%
3%
1%
100
Patient Survey Action Plan 2013/14
A meeting of the PPG was held on 12th September 2013 to discuss results of the
survey for 2013/14. The group found it difficult to decide which areas should be
included on this action plan as there had been increased satisfaction in all areas on
the survey compared to the results last year. They agreed that the Practice should
focus on the following two areas for improvement following the survey.
Item
1
Action
How do you find contacting the surgery by
telephone:
Action by
date
By who
March 2014
Practice
Manager/
Clinical
Team
March 2014
Practice
Manager
Whilst it was noted that there had been an
improvement in the percentage of patients who
were satisfied with the telephone system, there was
still room for significant improvement.
Action: The Practice team to explore alternative
ways of improving patient access to the surgery via
telephone.
2
Satisfaction with receptionists – how helpful do you
find the reception team?
This result had been disappointing for the Practice
as we believe that the primary aim of the reception
team should be to be helpful towards the patients.
It was recognised that there are times when staff
could be deemed as unhelpful if they are unable to
give the patient what they want, but agreed that
further work could be done to help staff handle
some situations with more sensitivity.
Action: The Practice Manager will conduct further
staff training on customer service skills.
Patient Participation Group
Circuit Lane Surgery
March 2014