GP PATIENTS RATE EXPERIENCE 'GOOD'

Released 17/06/2013

The results of the latest NHS GP Survey show that patients are generally happy with the overall service they receive but identify areas for improvement

The majority of patients in England (87%) rate the experience with their practice as ‘good,' with almost half (45%) describing it as ‘very good,' according to the latest national GP Survey.

Those with long-term conditions were the most satisfied with just under 89% giving a ‘good' rating.

The survey covers the period from July 2012 to March 2013 and gained a response rate of 35%, equivalent to 971,232 completed questionnaires out of a total of 2.75m distributed.
The survey also indicated a shift in patient requirements.

Despite 80% of patients booking appointments over the phone, nearly a third (31%) said they would prefer to book online, and 225 said they experienced problems getting through on the phone.

Just over a third of patients (36%) were able to actually see or speak to someone on the day they initially contacted the surgery, but 15% waited a week or more to see or speak to someone.

Most who were able to get an appointment said that this had been convenient (92%), with just under half saying that this had been ‘very convenient.'

Once in the surgery, 26% of patients had to wait over 15 minutes, and while more than half (59%) are happy with their waiting time, one-in-four (25%) believe they wait ‘a bit too long'. Worryingly, 10% felt they have to wait ‘far too long'.

Over half the respondents (58%) said they knew how to contact an out-of-hours GP service. But only one in eight (13%) had tried to access the service in the past six months. Of those who did so, most found it easy to do so (79%), with 38% describing it as ‘very' easy.

However, 31% said it ‘took too long' to get the care they needed. Although (81%) said that they had trust and confidence in the out-of-hours clinician, 12% said they did not.
Overall, 70% said their general experience of out-of-hours GP services was good, with a third (31%) saying it was ‘very' good.

Dr David Geddes, head of primary care commissioning at NHS England said:" "Nine out of ten contacts the public have with the NHS are with their GP practice. The GP patient survey highlights where patients are satisfied with the service they receive, but also helps us identify areas where we could do better and where NHS England along with CCG leaders need to focus.

"The GP survey gives us insight into patient feedback on GP services in and out of hours and this will form an important part of our work to modernise and develop the contribution that general practice can make to the NHS going forward."