Sandy Lane Surgery Patient Engagement Day
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This report summarises feedback gathered by Healthwatch Lancashire from 53 patients during two Patient Engagement Day visits to Sandy Lane Surgery in September 2016.
The purpose of the visits was to understand patients’ views on access to appointments, quality of care, and awareness of patient involvement opportunities, alongside observations of the surgery environment.
Overall, most patients booked appointments by telephone, while very few used the online booking system, often because they preferred traditional methods or lacked confidence in using digital tools.
Access to appointments was mixed: slightly more patients reported no difficulty getting urgent appointments than those who did, but many highlighted problems such as long telephone waiting times and difficulty seeing a preferred GP.
Half of respondents said they had no issues obtaining routine appointments, although others again reported long waits, particularly when requesting a specific doctor.
Patients’ experiences of booking appointments were generally positive but with room for improvement, as most said the process could be improved despite many also reporting helpful and friendly staff.
The majority of patients found the surgery easy to access and considered opening times convenient, although parking and, to a lesser extent, transport were identified as common difficulties.
In terms of quality of care, most patients were happy with staff, felt listened to during appointments, and found the information provided helpful.
Patient satisfaction was high overall, with nearly all respondents reporting that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the care they received, although a small minority reported negative experiences.
Awareness of the Patient Participation Group was low, with most patients unaware of it and not interested in joining, indicating limited engagement in formal patient involvement activities.
The surgery environment was observed to be clean, accessible, and welcoming, though there were occasional issues such as queues at reception and limited parking availability.