Enter and View: Meadowfield Medical Surgery
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This report details Healthwatch County Durham's enter and view visit to Meadowfield Medical Surgery. During the visit 21 patients were individually interviewed and 5 filled out a survey afterwards. They spoke about appointments - over half were able to get appointments the same day. Patients were generally happy with the service. They made recommendations based on their discussions and observations:
- The telephone lines are under pressure early in the morning and people see it as “first come-first served” Can the process of how appointments are allocated be promoted? Including explaining, how appointments that are urgent, non-urgent, referrals etc. are managed.
- Most patients are making appointments by telephone. Some said they would be happy to speak to someone rather than a face-to-face appointment. Are there anyway telephone calls could be split at the start of calls, which would make the process more streamlined for patients and staff? (Patients told us this worked for online requests)
- Several patients told us they had used NHS 111, but only 1 said they had used their pharmacy for help. Could the benefits of using local pharmacies be promoted? Does the surgery make patients aware of the fact NHS 111 has a number of allocated GP appointments for emergencies every day?
- Some patients who work are struggling with the current appointment process. Is there any way this could be considered/looked at?
- More than half the patients we spoke to did not know the makeup of the staff structure and what the staff could do at the surgery. Could the surgery provide more information and publicity about this?
- Although more than half the patients were aware of the website, less knew about Facebook. Could this be promoted?
- Based on several reasons patients felt more confident seeing the same person for appointments. There are cases where this might be appropriate. If patients were more aware of job roles and what staff could do, they might feel more confident to see someone else in the surgery.