Enter and view: Old Mill Surgery

Healthwatch Warwickshire did an announced Enter and View to the Old Mill GP Surgery , on the 25 of February. They found the surgery clearly signposted and visible from the main road. It was redecorated to a good standard with no concerns observed with the external building condition. The healthwatch team found the surgery to meet all their observational criteria except there was no electronic board advising patients to ask receptionist if privacy is required, and the names/photographs of GPs and staff at the surgery was not displayed. The questionnaire asked about appointments, access , parking, signage, staff attitudes, cleanliness and the quality of care amongst other things. 61 out of the 63 respondents found the cleanliness/hygiene to be Good, while responses about the Reception staff were mixed; “Some are good, some are not, depends on who’s on. Think they’re doctors”, “Depends who you get”, “Excellent, very good, very obliging in person and on phone”.

One patient commented “Only problem is trying to get through on the phones to book an appointment, phones are very busy. Mornings are very bad and afternoons are getting bad also”, while another said, “Very pleased with the practice as a whole over the years”.

The report makes the following two recommendations:

- The surgery look into the concerns raised by the patients in respect of the appointment booking system. One solution to this could be maximising the use of online appointment booking to reduce the amount of telephone traffic.

- The surgery provide the Patient Participation Group (PPG) with a notice board so that patients are aware of the role of the PPG and minutes of meetings, results of surveys etc. are available within the surgery.

There was no response included from the surgery.