From the months June to September 2023, we sent our Friends and family Survey to you and here are some of the general themes we have identified and our respective actions here at Mickleover Medical Centre based on your feedback.
Here are the results:
Report for NHS Friends and Family Test June-Sept 23
Thinking about your recent appointment – how was your experience of our service?
Very good
1066
79.08%
Good
207
15.36%
Neither good nor poor
31
2.30%
Poor
16
1.19%
Very poor
18
1.34%
Don’t know
10
0.74%
TOTAL Responses
1348
100.00%
You said…
Would be great if appointments could be booked online with visibility of doctors and slots for a certain period – 2-4 weeks ahead including same day slots.
There should be more availability of pre-bookable appointments. Having to ring at 8am (and be on the phone for extended periods of time waiting) for an appointment the same day is not possible for everyone.
Just that it would be nice if it was easier to get to see a doctor, with working I am unable to call at 8am and don’t have the opportunity to visit the website at 8am either
Getting an appointment, I had to queue at 7-45am outside, can you go back to how appointments used to be available !
We did…
Throughout 2023 we have listened and understand the challengers some of our patients face in trying to obtain an appointment and each time we have implemented an additional option for our patients to access an appointment. This time we have reintroduced online services (SystmOnline) booking for future appointments. Appointments will be added sporadically and dependent on clinical resource. This will enable our patients to book 2-4 weeks in advance at your own disposal.
This will be continually reviewed as we found that our biggest “did not attend” appointments statistically were those appointments patient booked themselves and with the current demand for appointments we will need to review the decision on a regular basis.
Furthermore the 4 specifically different ways our patients can obtain an appointment are:
Option 1 – You can contact the Practice digitally via our Practice website at 0800hrs on our get help page by using the link below, once we have the maximum number of entries submitted the page will inform you that we have reached capacity. This is open every morning at 0800hrs, of course it is dependent on clinical resource /get-help-for-any-health-problem/
Option 2 – You can call the Practice at 0800hrs, we do receive a high influx of calls at this time. Please be patient, our team do work tireless to signpost patients effectively and extra staff such as nurses and the leadership team do help at this time increasing the number of people answering phones and dealing with the digital requests.
Option 3 – Walk in’s, at 0800hrs when the Practice opens you can arrive at the Practice and arrange for an appointment with a nurse or a doctor. This is being reviewed due to patients complaining of lack of privacy and as a result, we have allowed only a few in at a time to book the appointments in person. Now we are receiving concerns about winter waiting outside, this may mean we have to stop offering in person appointments and return to phones and internet bookings only.
Option 4 – Please review your online services (SystmOnline) we have a number of appointments online which will be displayed throughout the week.
We have also extended our opening times on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to combat the accessibility issue for those people who are not able to attend during the day.
You said….
Took a long phone call to get the appt and I had been trying for 4 days to get through.
Making the telephone waiting time quicker for anyone to get through.
More staff needed manning appointments phone line.
It took over 45 minutes to get through then I got a telephone appointment with the nurse
We did….
This spring we introduced the Medicines Order line for all medicine related queries to try to reduce the footfall coming through the phonelines enabling us to handle and deal with more clinical queries. This has reduced and now our average waiting time in September was seven minutes on the phone this data has been shared in our latest Patient Participation Group who we are working closely with to enhance our patient experience.
We also have a new phone system in place which is enabling us with data and statistics to identify our busiest times so that we can resource adequately, we are doing our best here at the Practice to support all our patients and advice all those patients that have the ability to access the internet to visit our website. We our advising patients when they call, when applicable that they could have prevented from waiting on phones if they visited our website in first instance. Enabling those who are unable to use the website to call the Practice when required.
We also use our nursing team and managers to help at peak times to answer phones and operate the website ‘get help’ service.
The services available on our website are as follows:
Test result requests
You can contact us digitally and one of our team will review your request and advise if there is anything further for you to do.
Ask the Practice a question
If you have a non-clinical related question, you can contact the Practice digitally at the below link
/navigator/contact-the-Practice-with-a-general-enquiry-form/
Long term condition management
If you have been invited for an annual long term condition management review with our Practice nursing team you can complete the form below and one of the team will be happy to assist you
/navigator/request-an-appointment-with-a-nurse-or-healthcare-assistant/
Requesting a sick / fit note
Requiring a sick note for more then 7 days you can request this via of website using the form below
/navigator/doctors-sick-note-for-more-than-7-days/
Cancelling an appointment
Should you need to cancel an appointment with the Practice you can do so instantly by completing the below form found on our website.
/navigator/cancel-an-appointment-page/
Change of name or address
If you need to update your address or details you can do so by completing the below form found on our website
/navigator/change-of-personal-details/
Registering for Online Services
If you register for Online services you will have 24/7 access to be able to book appointments, cancel appointments, request medication, view your health records and blood test results and much more
You can do so by completing the link below found on our website.
/navigator/register-for-online-services/
These are general themes we have recorded as to why patients call the Practice and the digital method of how we could also help them in future.
You said..
Shorten time in waiting room. Running very late
Try apologising when you’re kept waiting 30 mins for your appointment not easy when patient had dementia and getting very anxious the doctor had good reasons, but it would be polite to be told
Find that patients are left waiting after appointment time which is understandable, but patients could be told that there appointment is running behind this would be respectful and save the patients distress
Be on time, waiting more than 45 for appointment is not acceptable.
We did….
We have listened and understood your frustrations of having to wait for an appointment.
Although we cannot directly impact or necessarily alter the timings due to a number of different reasons including complicated diagnosis’ or urgent clinical input required from a GP as each patient can take longer than their appointment time. We will endeavour to inform you of any delay upon your arrival at the Practice. Some patients do check in via our check in screen so may not necessarily have done so properly. Report to reception if your appointment surpasses your appointment time by 10 minutes, please visit the desk and one of the team will be able to provide you with further information.
We have found that patient care is important to us and so each patient will be given the support they need and we will try to balance the time we have with each of you.
HELP US HELP YOU AND OTHER PATIENTS WAITING BEHIND YOU
Think about those waiting in the waiting room too.
Please also remember, that it is only one issue per appointment. Many patients are bringing five or six things they want to discuss to an appointment and then it will inevitably run behind – this is at no fault to the clinician, who just wants to help. Pick the most important item to discuss to the appointment and if there is time in the 10-minute appointment, the Dr or clinician will try to cover more.
You said,
I only want to see a GP
I don’t want to see the physio, because they can’t refer me and I’ll have to make another appointment
Why isn’t there enough doctors, your carpark for them is not full
We did/We said….
LET US HELP YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT CLINICIAN TO HELP
Many of our patients are refusing to see other clinicians, who are most appropriate to see you for your issue or indeed not using self-care or their local pharmacy first. Please listen to the staff signposting you to the most appropriate clinician or service. If the clinician that sees you or speaks to you, are unable to support your problem, they will escalate it to another clinician, and it does not mean that you must make another appointment. This free’s up appointments with GP’s and Advance Nurse Practitioners, if you ask for a GP and your issue could have been dealt with easily by another, then you are taking up an appointment that someone else could have benefitted from.
The doctors are in and out of the Practice on visits and work different shift times so that we can offer appointments at different times of the day. This doesn’t mean that they are not working.
Pleas from our team
Our staff have said in meetings about the impact on them on a day-to-day basis when patients are abusive when it is not within their power to do what you are asking them to do or offer.
They have said:
Please be kind, if we could give you what you wanted, when you wanted it, we would!
Please let us guide you to the most appropriate staff member or clinician that can help.
We are patients at Practices elsewhere and we know what we do to try and help our patients because we know how hard it is for ourselves.
Thank you for your feedback and the opportunity to address your comments, please feel free to continue to do so for Friends and Family surveys, GP Practice Survey and PPG surveys within the Practice on the days they are in. You can also go to /navigator/feedback/ .
Your Team at MMC