Enter and view Summary of 28 GP practices

Healthwatch North Somerset receives a great deal of feedback from the public relating to experiences of GP Practices. Generally, the feedback gathered shows more positive feedback is given than negative. When reviewing the feedback received, the Healthwatch North Somerset Prioritisation Panel recommended further investigation into General Practice with a focus on good practice and improvements made following patient feedback.

The purpose of the Enter and View visits was aimed at outlining what was observed and recognising, highlighting and sharing of good practice and making any suitable recommendations for improvement. The role of the Enter and View Representatives was to observe each Practice as if they were new patients entering the Practice for the first time and locating information. Standard Enter and View procedures were reviewed and adjusted to accommodate this work which required a different observation technique than other Enter and View visits. Relevant training and processes were put in place to ensure the Authorised Representatives were prepared for the visits. When attending the local Practice Manager’s Forum, to outline the project, a request was made that no direct approach would be made to patients during the Enter and View visit.

The visit would be observation only and a further request was made that Authorised Representatives did not Enter and View the Practice at which they were registered. Individual GP practices were visited from November 2017 to end April 2018, in total 28 sites had Healthwatch North Somerset Enter and View visits and reports created for each visit. Over 150 recommendations in total were made in the report.

A mystery shopper exercise was undertaken alongside the Enter and View visits. The “mystery shopper” reviewed information about out-of-hours services, complaints, catchment areas and registering as a new patient.

The Mystery Shopping exercise demonstrated the experiences patients would have when accessing the websites including seeking information should they wish to make a complaint. Only four of the Practice websites provided an adequate level of information and access to policy/forms. The Enter and View Representatives also looked at the process of registering as a new patient and how patients can find out if their address was in the right catchment area eg there were a number of ways patients could register, however many Practices had little information about catchment areas and relevant forms were not available to download. In providing this report Healthwatch North Somerset seeks to highlight, share and acknowledge the good practice that occurs in GP Practices throughout North Somerset.