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Quality of GP Consultations Drives High Patient Satisfaction

News Release issued by the Government News Network on 30 June 2009

The GP Patient Survey, the biggest healthcare survey of its kind, found that overall satisfaction with surgeries was high at 91%, but there is still room for improvement in accessing GP services, especially getting through on the phone and being able to make appointments more than 48 hours in advance.

The GP Patient Survey, conducted for the Department of Health by Ipsos MORI, is an important measure of how well surgeries in England are responding to patients’ needs. Based on survey feedback from previous years, the Government set an ambitious target for at least 50% of GP surgeries to offer extended opening hours. Now over three-quarters of practices are open longer and satisfaction with practice opening hours is 82%. While patients are clearly pleased with the treatment they receive when they see a GP, the survey shows a clear need to improve access to services, and practices should look at these results to identify their patients’ concerns.

Other key findings from this year’s survey include:

• 84% of people who tried to get an appointment with a GP in 48 hours reported they were able to do so;
• 70% of people reported satisfaction with their ability to get through to their practice on the phone;
• 76% of people who wanted to book ahead for an appointment reported they could do so; and
• 77% of people who wanted an appointment with a particular GP (even if meant waiting longer) reported they could do so.

Commenting on the results of the GP Patient Survey, Health Minister Mike O’Brien said:

“The GP Patient Survey is one of the most valuable tools we have for measuring what patients think of their GP practice. I congratulate the vast majority of surgeries who are performing well, but its clear some surgeries now need to look at these results and identify the areas where patients are still dissatisfied. In particular this year’s results show there is work to be done in improving telephone access to surgeries and making it easier for patients to book appointments in advance.

“I thank the millions of patients who took the time to complete this survey, this feedback is essential in making sure the NHS is meeting the needs of patients. We need to ask patients what they think to improve the quality of the NHS. We also need to listen and act on what patients say.”

In addition to information on accessing services, for the first time this year patients were asked their views on a wider range of topics that are also important to patients when visiting their GP, such as cleanliness and how long they wait after arriving. Patients reported that contrary to popular myths, GP receptionists are actually helpful with 94% of patients rating them highly.

Patients were also able to feedback on their practice nurse for the first time this year with overwhelmingly positive results. The majority (92%) find it easy to see a practice nurse, and rated them highly on a range of factors from listening to them and asking about their symptoms, to explaining treatment and involving patients in decisions about their care.

Patient feedback plays a vital role in shaping primary care services. To help GPs respond to the feedback their patients give them, the Department of Health will this Thursday (2 July), be publishing the Provider Guide on Access and Responsiveness, giving practices practical advice on how to deliver the services their patients need. The guide was developed in partnership with the Royal College of GPs, the BMA and a range of other groups to ensure it meets the needs of practices. It includes examples of best practice such as the Saltaire Medical Practice in Bradford which introduced online appointment booking, making it easier for patients to book, cancel and check details of appointments, and freeing up phone lines so that patients who did need to speak to the practice found it faster and more convenient. GPs are increasingly offering patients more ways to contact surgeries such as by email or online, but the profession needs to consider how to best do this and make sure that those without internet access also find it as easy to contact their surgery.

Notes to Editors

1. The results of the survey (searchable by practice/trust/region) can be accessed at http://www.gp-patient.co.uk/surveyresults.
2. The ratings of doctor giving you enough time and the doctor taking your problems seriously have been identified as key drivers for overall satisfaction as they had the highest correlations with overall satisfaction, based on practice level data (86% for ‘Rating of doctor giving you enough time’ and 85% for ‘Rating of doctor taking your problems seriously’).
3. Ipsos MORI administered the GP Patient Survey on behalf of the Department of Health (DH). Questionnaires were dispatched to 5,660,217 adult patients registered with GP practices in England, with a covering letter and reply-paid envelope, in the week commencing 5 January 2009. Reminders were sent to non-responding patients in February and March 2009. Questionnaires received by 9 April 2009 are included in the survey results, with duplicates excluded. The overall unadjusted response rate to the survey is 38%, based on 2,163,456 completed responses.
4. This year, the format of the questions has been slightly modified to reflect and report more accurately actual patient experience, eg by providing wider response options than a simple yes / no answer. This should lessen the known positive bias to respond yes to such questions – for example, it is now possible to answer “can’t remember” or “don’t know” to these questions. Results have also not been filtered to exclude patients who had not seen their GP in the last 6 months – as they had in previous years. As a result of this it is not possible to make direct comparisons with previous years across the five access indicators. However, broad comparisons can be made by adjusting this years figures to be on a similar basis to previous years, but these are still not directly comparable due to the change in questions. The table below sets out the responses excluding the “other” category.

	2007-08 Results	2008-09 positive responses combined as a % of all responses excluding certain categories	Categories of responses counted as positive in the numerators of column 2	Categories of response excluded in the denominator of column 2
Telephone Access [1] [2]	87%	79%	Fairly/Very Easy	Haven't Tried / Don't Know
48-Hour Access 12	87%	86%	Yes	Can't Remember'
Advance Booking 12	77%	78%	Yes	Can't Remember'
Specific GP 12	88%	95%	Always/Almost Always/A lot of the time	Some of the Time / Not Tried
Opening Hours 1[3]	82%	92%	Very/Fairly Satisfied	Neither / Don't Know
Average of 5 12 3	84%	86%

5. The Department of Health is publishing two guides on Thursday 2 July to help GP practices and PCTs improve access and responsiveness for patients:

· Improving Access, responding to patients: a ‘how-to’ guide for GP practices - This is is the 4th in the suite of guides co-produced between DH, East of England SHA & Primary Care Commissioning to help PCTs become world class commissioners of primary care services. Closely linked with the first guide 'Improving GP services' which was launched in January, 'Improving GP Access & Responsiveness' highlights case studies and practical support tools that have directly helped some PCTs enable GPs to improve access & responsiveness. It emphasises the need for PCTs to understand the needs and preferences of their local population and translating these into their commissioning plans. PCTs will work closely with LMCs and practices to support local improvement.

World Class Commissioning for GP services: improving GP Access and Responsiveness - This is part of a series of supportive guides to help Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) become world class commissioners of primary care services. It focuses on commissioning accessible and responsive GP practices and builds on the work in World Class Commissioning – Improving GP services.

1. For more information please contact the Department of Health Press Office on 020 7210 5221.