Thorpewood Survey Results – June 2024
Thorpewood carried out a patient survey, with the help of our Patient Participation Group, at the end of April. The objective of the survey was to gather data from a sample of our patient base, to help us better understand what we are doing well, and what we could improve on. The survey was carried out in the waiting rooms at the surgery and was also available online.
Over the two weeks, 726 surveys were completed. 369 of these were carried out in the practice, with 357 completed online.
The table below shows the average rating, out of five, for each of the questions asked:
| Rate your overall experience: | Quality of care: | Staff attitude/ communication: | Ease of making an appointment: | Wait time for that appointment: | Cleanliness of surgery: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.93 | 4.14 | 4.15 | 2.90 | 3.06 | 4.36 |
The following bar graph shows the results of the questions, where 1 is ‘poor’ and 5 is ‘outstanding’:
Based on the results shown above, we can see that you are generally happy with the service we provide, including the quality of care you receive, and the attitude and communication of our staff. Equally however, the results make it clear the areas that require improvement, namely the ease of making an appointment, and the wait time for appointments.
Further to the rating questions we asked, we also had an open-ended question asking, ‘what could be improved?’. We received a wide range of answers to this question and having read through all of these we have identified three main recurring responses:
What you said: “The wait time to get through on the phones is too long.”
What we are doing: In order to alleviate this, we have introduced a new phone system which has an integrated callback feature. This means you do not need to wait on the phone in a queue, and instead you will receive a call back from us when you reach the front of the queue. More information on this new system can be found here: https://bit.ly/3RamU8h.
What you said: “The forms on e-Consult are too long and repetitive.”
What we are doing: The forms are designed to obtain ample medical information ahead of an appointment, so that the time during an appointment can be spent diagnosing a problem. We are aware that the form is lengthy and therefore, we are currently looking at other options to use for our online system.
What you said: “There aren’t enough GP appointments. Appointments are booked too far in advance.”
What we are doing: We are actively recruiting into 2 clinical roles, which includes another GP. This will help to provide more appointments. However, it is important for our patients to understand that not all illness and ailments need to be seen by a GP. We have various clinicians who are highly qualified and skilled individuals who are well placed to help diagnose and prescribe. We aim to ensure that any appointment you attend is with the most appropriate clinician for your problem.
Using the information gathered, we will continue to work on improving our services for all our patients.We plan to carry out the survey again later in the year to understand whether changes we are making are continuing to help us move in the right direction. Thank you to everybody who took the time to complete the survey and help implement change.