CQC
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) are the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, they completed a comprehensive inspection of the surgery on 4/5/23 following their last inspection in June 2022.
The PPG were involved in providing feedback from their point of view. The surgery is now awaiting the report to come back.
Waiting Room Information Screen
The PPG gave feedback around the information screen not always being turned on and asked if the screen was in the best position (behind the receptionists) as patients don’t always go to reception if they use the booking in screen in the foyer so do not notice the information screen as it is not in direct view from the 2 waiting areas. The surgery acknowledged and will consider the feedback.
Telephoning the Surgery/Availability of Appointments
The PPG gave feedback concerning the length of time patients were waiting on the phone and the availability of appointments, however, they were pleased to see the introduction of phone options when ringing the surgery where you now have the option to cancel an appointment, speak to a secretary or speak to the medication team as well as speak to a receptionist regarding booking an appointment.
The surgery is aware of the call waiting time and can now view the number of patients waiting in the call queue, putting additional staff on to answer calls to help relieve the pressure.
There remains a concern around missed appointments which could have been given to other patients including on the day appointments where patients do not turn up.
Website Appointment Booking
The PPG asked why the website appointment form was taken offline during the day, some patients were unable to access the form during the day which caused frustration when they tried to use the form later in the day to make future appointments.
The surgery agreed this would cause frustration, however, due to the number of requests being made, it needed to balance requests for routine appointments with urgent same day appointments, making sure no urgent requests were missed.
The surgery did reiterate the phone lines remained open even if the website form was offline.
PPG Facebook Page
A PPG Facebook page was previously established, however, it was disbanded earlier this year.
The surgery felt this could be a good communication tool for the PPG to get messages out to patients. The PPG agreed to reconsider setting the Facebook page up again.
Veteran Friendly Practice
Previously the PPG had asked the surgery if they would consider becoming a ‘Veteran Friendly Practice’ however, the PPG were informed by a former PPG member that veterans are advised not to join a practice rated less than good.
The surgery have indicated that they would consider this in the future if their rating changes.
Car Park
Concerns regarding the availability of car parking spaces were raised as it had been brought to the PPG’s attention that the car park was being used by nearby residents and therefore creating a lack of available spaces.
The surgery was aware of this feedback and are currently looking at ways to ensure the car park can only be accessed during surgery opening hours.
Health Apps/Digital Services
The PPG received feedback that Health Information apps such as the NHS app and the Air Mid UK app were not being utilized fully by patients especially to reorder prescriptions.
The PPG felt this is something to consider in the future with possibly some guidance around using the apps and the information they provide. The PPG asked the surgery how many patients have signed up for digital services.
Focus Group
The PPG would like to become more involved with providing feedback based on patient experience for any potential future patient service changes and to act as a focus group for the surgery.
The surgery agreed this would be beneficial.