GP access project: New ways of working

Healthwatch Reading, Healthwatch West Berkshire and Healthwatch Wokingham Borough joined together for a collaborative project to get local views of the new ways of working introduced at GP practices.  The issues they looked at were:

• Call back using cloud telephony
• Care navigation/triage
• Seeing other health professionals
• Digital services
• Consultation alternatives

They conducted an online survey and focus groups, reaching 555 people in total.

People are aware how stretched GP services are. Before contacting the GP, they: opted for self-care, took advice from friends/family, local pharmacy, NHS app or the internet. Most participants preferred making appointments over the phone or by attending in person.

Appointment shortage, long waits on the phone, and no choice of preferred GP were the main difficulties encountered by participants. Participants with caring responsibilities struggled to fit in appointments around their caring duties.

Technology made it easier for 30% of participants to access GP services. However, 19% of all participants found that it made it harder for them.

While some participants were aware and happy with triage, many were unaware. They had no communication from their surgeries.

People wanted to know if care navigators were trained to understand their needs and redirect them to the right service/professional. People were concerned that care navigators will have access to their confidential data.

The triaging process can lead to many options and redirections. This makes it complicated, confusing, and difficult for the elderly and for people with disabilities. people thought triaging took a lot of time. It was repetitive and complicated. They questioned the efficiency of the triaging process - how well it worked and did it really save any time.

Awareness of the NHS app was mixed. There were many participants who were unaware of the app and had no communication from their surgeries. People want to use the app to manage vaccinations, order repeat prescriptions, book appointments, receive updates and have access to complete health records.

Some participants with an android phone got a ‘unable to download as not in region’ error message. This could be an issue for people who have a phone setting from a previous country they moved from. It is difficult to set up the app without a photo ID. A visit to the GP is required to gain access. Lot of instructions are available in English only. This makes accessing the app difficult for non-English speakers.

Many participants were unable to book appointments using the app. The app will be used by more people if it offered appointment booking facility.

Many people needed family help to register. They felt the registration process was very complicated and long. It was not easy to book an appointment. Some participants thought it was not inclusive of the elderly, disabled, visually impaired, and less techno savvy participants.

There was no promotion of the app. Lots of people did not know what the app is for, how to use it or see the benefit of using the app over the old methods such as calling. They thought local GPs can do the same as what the app is for.

People want to be involved in developing the communication they receive from their surgeries. This will help them understand and get on board with any changes. People preferred face-face consultation because it was reassuring and helped them to explain themselves better.

Text message is the preferred communication method for receiving updates from surgeries.