GP Patient survey results

The National GP Patient Survey Results have been published and Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust (HMRPCT) believes that on the whole, patients in the area are satisfied with the service they receive after results showed an increase in the overall satisfaction rate on last year.

However, they have said that there are still some key improvements that need to be made.

The survey covers five main areas including telephone access, 48 hour access to GP’s, advance booking, opening hours and being able to book appointments with a preferred GP.

In Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale 8,000 people responded:

78% are satisfied with telephone access
83% are able to have an appointment within 48 hours
69% can book two days in advance
83% can book with a specific GP
82% are satisfied with opening hours

The survey results have highlighted that patients would like to see GP Practices open longer, with 31% of dissatisfied respondents wanting evening appointments and 39% wanting appointments on a Saturday.

Full time workers also struggle to access GP appointments in the area, with only 51% able to see their GP.

Vivienne Ben-David, Head of Primary Care at Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust, said: “It is encouraging that the majority of patients feel they receive a good level of service and it reflects the high quality care local GP’s provide to our patients everyday.

“The PCT will work with GP’s to ensure this level of care continues but we also need to tackle the issues concerning those who are less satisfied and unable to access appointments. This includes providing longer opening hours, which the PCT is already actively addressing, as well how to improve GP access in the Borough’s poorer areas and for full time workers. We also need to work with GP’s to make sure all practices in the Borough provide the same quality of care.”

The PCT is currently piloting three different schemes to provide patients with GP opening hours during the evening and at the weekend. These schemes will be further developed by taking into account the views of patients from the GP patient survey.

The PCT is also developing plans for three new GP Practices and a new GP-led health centre to go into Rochdale's poorest areas. These GP services will provide all of the usual services you would expect from a GP Practice, but will also provide additional services tailored to each area. The PCT conducted a public consultation about what these new services should be and the results will be released soon.

Ms Ben-David added: “Providing additional services will help us to provide a great quality of care for our patients. Instead of just providing appointments when people are ill, we will actually have more time to work with our population to improve their lifestyle to stop them becoming ill in the first place and ultimately reduce the number of health inequalities we have across the Borough of Rochdale.”