For three years, the Department of Health (DH) has been conducting a GP Patient Survey (GPPS) in England. This year the survey has been extended to cover some of the issues that concern patients, such as how easy or difficult it is for to make appointments, satisfaction with opening hours and the quality of care received from their GP and practice nurses. 

Questionnaires were sent to 5,660,217 adult patients registered with GP practices in England and 20,875 surveys to North East Lincolnshire residents. Overall response rate was 42% for this area (38% nationally).  

Jenny Jacklin, primary care development manager, said: “We are pleased to have seen positive results once again for North East Lincolnshire and would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey. We would also like to thank staff working in our local GP practices for their continued hard work to provide high quality primary care services to our residents.” 

The report provides headline results for the CTP as a whole. North East Lincolnshire patients continue to report high satisfaction results for primary care. In many cases, the results compare favourably to the national average.  

 

• The majority of patients find it easy to get into their GP surgery (96%), with 78% saying it is very easy.
• Almost all patients report their surgery to be clean (97%), with 79% saying it is very clean.
• 84% patients report that other patients can overhear what they say to their surgery’s reception, however, two thirds say they do not mind about this.
• Overall, patients find their surgery’s receptionists to be helpful (96%).
• Patients were asked about how easy they found it to contact their surgery by phone. Eight out of ten patients who have tried to ring the surgery (82%) say they find it easy to get through to their surgery by phone.
• The majority of patients (89%) who have tried to see a doctor fairly quickly were able to be seen on the same day or within the next two days. The majority of patients who had tried to book ahead for an appointment were able to get an appointment more than two full days in advance (83%).
• When asked how long after their appointment time they normally wait to be seen, the largest proportion of patients say between 5 and 15 minutes (42%).  Only 4% say they have to wait more than 30 minutes. Most patients feel that they do not normally have to wait too long (73%).
• Of those patients who expressed an opinion, most patients (95%) are satisfied with the opening hours of their surgery. 
• Patients were asked a range of questions about the last time they were seen by a doctor at their surgery. The majority of patients are very positive about their experiences with their doctor. Two thirds patients have seen a practice nurse at their surgery in the past six months. Of those, the majority say it is easy to get an appointment with a nurse (93%). The majority of patients are very positive about their experiences with a nurse at their surgery.
• Most patients are satisfied with the care they receive at their surgery (93%), including 62% who are very satisfied.

A more detailed report can be found at http://www.nelctp.nhs.uk/about/board/meetings/default.aspx August 2009, section 13a. 

Wider results can be found at www.gp-patient .co.uk/results. As the survey has changed this year, comparative results with previous years are not available.