Agenda item

To receive Healthwatch’s review of access to GP Practices.

It was noted that Healthwatch was used to listen to and obtain the views of the residents to then report back on the findings.

It was noted that the Access to GP Practices Project merged during Covid-19.  The reason for this project was many residents found it difficult to access primary care.  Due to this, the Healthwatch managers had decided this was a sensitive issue and wanted to create a measured and balanced approach.

It was understood that the team had noticed there was a negative media sentiment and that the GPs were busy with the vaccine programme along with there being a backlog of treatments which was why it was important to recognise a collaboration was essential when understanding the bigger picture. 

The Regional Working Group provided support to establish the programme.  This included liaising with GPs, Practice Managers, CQC, Reception Staff and more across the Frimley footprint and other Healthwatch’s. 

It was noted that a practice staff survey had been circulated with 250 responses received.  The public facing survey had resulted in several thousand responses with 1,000 responses across East Berkshire and 347 responses from Bracknell Forest.

The main issues found were the following:

·       Long telephone queues as there had been a large amount of feedback received regarding the time it took to speak to the surgeries as well as the availability of consultations. 

·       There had also been mixed responses regarding telephone consultations as some members stated they preferred consultations over the phone because it was quick and efficient whereas others stated they preferred a face-to-face approach. 

·       Regarding the online services, some members preferred the convenience of accessing the services online.  However, others preferred the personal approach along with digital inclusion being a factor. 

·       It was noted there was an issue with triaging as many patients were not aware of the term triaging.

Regarding the frontline staff, there had been 112 staff members who had responded, and they stated that patients should be aware of the following:

·       GP practices were pressured and overwhelmed.

·       It would be easier to try alternative routes before contacting the surgeries such as contacting pharmacies and 111. 

·       Be prepared to give a clear description of symptoms over the phone.

·       How triage works which meant knowing that receptionists would ask questions.

·       Booking appointments online and over telephones and the time it could take.

·       Behaviour towards staff.

Based on information gathered, the patients’ recommendations were:

·       New phone systems or increase the number of call handlers to take the number of incoming calls.

·       Phones that would have access to a third person in the consultation. 

·       Dedicated phoneline for diabetic nurses in the surgeries.

·       Dedicated line for registered carers.

·       Continue to review pre-recorded messages.

·       Implement phone queue systems as not all surgeries had this.

·       Staggered lunch time breaks so staff members of the surgery would be always available. 

·       Research into the efficiency of call handling to prevent queues in the future.

·       Appointments in consultations – more specific timeslots such as an hour window instead of stating morning or afternoon.

·       Patients being offered the choice of whether they would prefer a face-to-face meeting.

·       Alternative methods to cancelling appointments rather than calling.

·       Review the online forms as most questions were repetitive.

·       Communication – inform patients as soon as possible about changes to practice staff and more.

The full report had been published in July 2022.  Different reports had been collated from Healthwatch.  After collecting the information from the patients and staff, a communication toolkit would be created to support the GP practices. 

Healthwatch had also reviewed all the Frimley websites as well as contacting all the contact numbers provided.  The recommendations based on their research were:

·       Telephone messages could be more welcoming and shorter.

·       Websites would need a standardised template as they were all very different, and some websites were difficult to navigate.

·       Websites needed to explain the importance of triaging.

It was noted that the local NHS managers had decided to implement the following to support patients:

·       8,854 additional appointments added for urgent care practitioners had been made across Bracknell Forest as well as providing home visits.

·       Additional GP nurse capacity during the weekends.

·       Enhanced care and prevention.

·       Additional 1,825 appointments for high-risk patients who had not been able to be seen in primary care in the past six months.

·       Health checks for anxiety and depression in young adults.

·       Improving uptake of surgical screening.

·       Develop communication with the public.

·       Develop wellbeing and self-care booklets.

Further information could be found in the report. 

It was noted that the next review would be taking a look at dentistry.