People's experiences of using GP services in Oxfordshire

Healthwatch Oxfordshire wanted to listen to people’s experiences of access to and care from GP services, including the out-of-hours service and, where possible, to compare them with the results of a similar survey conducted in 2014. The survey tested people’s views about seeking medical advice from medical professionals’ other than their GP and their opinions on the use of online services. The research was carried out between 5th December 2016 and 2nd February 2017 and the total number of responses was 403. Responses were received from people registered at 67 different medical practices across Oxfordshire.

It was clear that most people who responded to this survey value their GP surgeries, are happy with the quality of care they received from their GP, and from others at the surgery, and are generally happy with their access to primary care services.

The majority of people still use the telephone to make appointments, with an increased proportion of people using online systems to make appointments. A significant percentage of respondents who currently do not have access to this option from their surgery also expressed their wish for this facility. Most people still have their call picked up within 5 minutes; with a greater proportion of people happy with the service offered at the end of the line in 2017 than in 2014. A large minority (34%) of respondents do not want to explain to the receptionist why they are making an appointment with the doctor.

Overall people are waiting longer to see their doctor with a greater proportion waiting 1-4 weeks than in 2014. Satisfaction ratings for waiting times has marginally increased on those in 2014. However, as in 2014, people become more dissatisfied if they must wait more than a week for an appointment. People would welcome Saturday and evening appointments. The desire for Sunday appointments has decreased from 75% in 2014 to 55% in 2017. The amount of time taken off work to attend GP appointments in the past 12 months is most commonly cited as half a day. The willingness to have a GP consultation using video technology was fairly evenly split between those who would use it and those who would not with the younger people (16-25 years old) most reluctant.

72% of respondents said they are happy to see an alternative medical professional other than their GP. Those who do not want to, believe the GP is the person with the right skills for their condition. A large minority of people (39%) had sought advice from a pharmacist before making an appointment to see their GP.

The 111 Service was the most frequently used OOH service used by the 2017 cohort respondents. A high proportion of users rated it ‘good’, ‘fine’, or ‘excellent’. However, 24% of users had a poor experience. One patient reported that they never received a call back from 111. Experiences of the Minor Injuries Units was positive, though there were a few comments about the long waiting times and poor communications while waiting. Waiting times to see an out-of-hours doctor was reported as a negative experience of the out-of-hours GP service. The use of A&E as an alternative to a visit to their GP was noted by a small minority of people (14%) and they appeared to have taken this decision either with medical advice, for broken bones or a self-assessed emergency. Only very few respondents had used A&E because they could not get to see their GP in a prompt fashion.

The report contains six recommendations about better communication, making appointments, staffing, remote appointments and patient participation groups.