YORK BRIDGE SURGERY PATIENT PARTICIPATION REPORT 2014 /2015

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1 YORK BRIDGE SURGERY PATIENT PARTICIPATION REPORT 2014 /2015 Our patient participation group is a virtual group. We contact our patients via however if a patient does not have access to the internet then we can post out letters and questionnaires. We have advertised our patient participation group throughout the surgery on posters, in the newsletters and also on our website. At the present time we have 38 patients who are part of our patient participation group. We have 7097 patients registered at our practice at the beginning of January AIM We as a practice aim to be pro-active and engage with our patients, and to ensure that patients have an input in the quality of the services that they are receiving here at York Bridge Surgery. Thank you to all our members of the patient group that took part and helped us to recognise what needs changing or improving within the practice. The questionnaire, results / outcomes from the questionnaire are as follows: If you feel you would like to make any comments regarding this please contact Jenna Metcalfe, Practice Manager in writing or jenna.metcalfe@nhs.net

2 Patient Participation Group Profile: Gender Gender male female Age Age years years years years years years years over 85 years

3 We decided to ask our patient participation group their opinion on our reception area here at York Bridge Surgery due to the queues that we were having at the reception desk, we are also looking at moving our clinical medical paper records from where they are currently stored in the reception area up to a room upstairs to make more space downstairs for our reception team. We asked the following questions: Please can you help us decide a few things by answering the questions below: 1. As the reception area stands at the moment we have half of the reception desk open and the other half is used as a notice board. We are considering opening up the notice board and having another receptionist working on the desk handing out prescriptions to help keep the queues to a minimum. Do you feel this would be a good idea? YES NO Please leave any comment or suggestion: Also with the changes in reception, we would also be able to have our head receptionist, Kath Mather working in reception for extra help and support throughout the day for the receptionists and patients. 2. One thing we want to look into improving is the privacy at the reception desk as we are aware that this is an issue for patients. How do you feel we could improve this? 3. With regards to booking in for your appointment are you aware we have a Checking in touch screen in the surgery for you to use saving you queuing at the desk? YES NO

4 If yes do you feel it is situated in the most appropriate place in the surgery? How do you feel we could improve our reception area and help keep the queues to a minimum for patients? Results Below are the comments that we received back: As the reception area stands at the moment we have half of the reception desk open and the other half is used as a notice board. We are considering opening up the notice board and having another receptionist working on the desk handing out prescriptions to help keep the queues to a minimum. Do you feel this would be a good idea? Yes I feel that there are unnecessary queues at times waiting to collect a prescription and having to wait until the receptionist has dealt with booking patients in or making appointments. Opening up the reception area would make it a lot easier for access for patients and you could see the receptionists rather than waiting behind a notice board 2 receptionists on the desk would certainly help at busy times Give more space for patients and maybe help with privacy as you would not feel as huddled together waiting Maybe have certain times to collect prescriptions and ensure that it is well staffed during this time period There is always another receptionist sat at the back of reception that could help? It is always important to be made to feel welcome by a friendly face at the reception desk

5 One thing we want to look into is improving the privacy at the reception desk as we are aware that this is an issue for patients. How do you feel we could improve this? There are signs up that state if you want to speak to someone in private then you can ask, other than this I don t feel there is an issue with privacy at the desk as you always get asked what the problem is when booking an urgent appointment so that the doctor can know what you are attending for Confidentiality at the reception desk not enough room when there is a queue, hopefully if you remove the noticeboard this will help with the room and patients would stand further back and give you space From a personal point of view I don t like to talk about my problems at the desk not very confidential Unless standards drop I feel there are no improvements that can be made, I am very happy with my service at reception Maybe have a line on the carpet in reception that people have to stand behind like they do at banks to give more privacy and respect to people when they are being dealt with at the desk. 2 people on reception one for prescriptions and one dealing with patients for appointments would be very helpful speed up the process and then you may not have as bigger issue with the privacy at reception if it s not as busy! With regards to booking in for your appointment are you aware we have a Checking in touch screen in the surgery for you to use saving you queuing at the desk? Comments: 20 patients said yes 10 patients said no Feel it is in the most appropriate place for booking in as it s not too near the reception desk so you don t cause queues I was not sure where it was allocated, once found I have since used it maybe better in the porch area as you come in? I think the check in system is a great, quick and easy way to check in all you need is your date of birth and gender very easy to use and I m in my 60 s Think it s a great idea to have one of these in the surgery hopefully it will save the queues at reception if patients use this to check in for their appointments rather than hovering round the desk area waiting for a receptionist to book them in! Used it a few times now it s very easy

6 How do you feel we could improve our reception area and help keep the queues to a minimum for patients? It would certainly help making the desk area bigger where you speak to the receptionists as currently very small area and staff can t always see if someone is waiting More staff on reception 2 windows 1 for prescriptions,1 for appointments making and booking in etc Staff are great and friendly just think there must be more staff on at busy times of the day, if you can calculate when these would be? Overall I am very happy with the service I receive at the surgery I have been a patient here for many years now and I can only say that it is moving in the right direction, staff and doctors are great keep up the good work! The results of the questionnaire were then communicated to all members of our PPG to give them the opportunity to comment and/or discuss the findings of the practice survey. Thank you once again to members of our patient participation group that helped us identify what was most important to patients of the practice. Conclusion & Outcome We held a meeting with the Practice Team, which included all Doctors, Nurses and Management. All the above comments were discussed in great detail and we will be putting the following into action over the next few months to try and help improve our services to our patients: We have applied for funding with regards to the change of the medical records and moving them upstairs and altering reception- we shall keep everyone updated on this progress throughout the next year Our reception area since this questionnaire has been opened up and has made a big difference in the way that receptionists can deal with patients and see when patients are waiting. There are 2 receptionists on the desk during the hours of 9-4pm with the backup of the head receptionist working in the reception area too for extra help and support. The queues at the desk have started to decrease, as it is easier for patients to collect prescriptions now at the desk. Privacy seems to have improved as reception is not as busy, this is something that we will look into in further detail, and patients can always ask to speak to a receptionist in private if they feel necessary away from the desk.

7 This year we changed our computer system in July patients and staff coped with this process well, and the checking in system was changed appropriately For now the checking in screen will remain near the chemist where it is as patients seem happy with this. Staff are also encouraging more patients to learn how to use this so that this will also help with decreasing the queues and waiting times for patients.