Most Patients Satisfied With Access To Their Local Family Practice, Says New Report From The NHS Information Centre, UK

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 16 Jul 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The majority of patients remain satisfied with access to their local family GP services, says a report published by The NHS Information Centre.

The GP Patient Survey 2007/08 asked almost five million patients for their views on access to their local practice and almost two million patients responded.

A key purpose of the survey was to measure how practices are performing against access standards set out in the Improved Access Scheme. Under the scheme, the results of the survey determine how much participating practices get paid.

The headline results showed:

- 87 per cent of patients were satisfied with telephone access to their local practice (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 86 per cent)

- 87 per cent of patients who tried to get an appointment quickly could see a GP within 48 hours (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 86 per cent)

- 77 per cent of patients who wanted to book ahead for an appointment with a GP were able to do so (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 75 per cent)

- 88 per cent of patients who wanted an appointment with a specific GP were able to get one with that particular GP (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was also 88 per cent).

The survey also found that 82 per cent of patients were happy with the current opening times of their GP practice (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 84 per cent). Of those who were dissatisfied it showed that:

- 44 per cent wanted practices to be open on Saturdays (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 46 per cent)

- 31 per cent wanted later evening opening times (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 26 per cent).

- The remainder cited other reasons.

In a separate questionnaire completed by 283,400 patients, the survey also looked at whether GPs discussed choice of hospital with patients who were referred to hospital. This aspect of the survey, which helps determine payments to practices that participate in the Choice and Booking Scheme, showed 93 per cent of surveyed patients referred for specialist care reported that their GP had discussed choice of hospital with them (in the 2006/07 survey the figure was 94 per cent) .

The GP Patient Survey was carried out by research company Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department of Health.

The NHS Information Centre's chief executive Tim Straughan said: "The survey is an important mechanism for rewarding practices providing good levels of access and choice to their patients, and it provides an incentive to practices to reflect the views of patients in key aspects of the services they deliver.

"It is a useful indicator for patients, GP practices, primary care trusts and policymakers alike."

The survey and interactive online database are at http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/gpps08 Notes

1. The NHS Information Centre is England's authoritative, independent source of health and social care information. It works with more than 300 health and social care providers nationwide to provide the facts and figures that help the NHS and social services run effectively. Its role is to collect data, analyse it and convert it into useful information which helps providers improve their services and supports academics, researchers, regulators and policymakers in their work.

The NHS Information Centre also produces a wide range of statistical publications each year across a number of areas including: primary care, health and lifestyles, screening, hospital care, population and geography, social care and workforce and pay statistics.

2. For the access part of the survey, fieldwork took place from early January 2008 to the end of March 2008. Questionnaire forms were mailed directly to a sample of patients from each practice; completed questionnaires were returned directly by patients to Ipsos MORI for data entry and analysis.

For the choice part of the survey, fieldwork took place between 21 January and 28 March 2008. GP practices were asked to give a questionnaire form to every adult patient who was referred to secondary care for a condition where the Choice policy applies. Completed questionnaires were then returned directly by patients to Ipsos MORI for data entry and analysis.

The NHS Information Centre