Enter and view: Whittle Surgery, Chorley

Healthwatch Lancashire undertook an announced enter and view visit to Whittle Surgery, Chorley on 13 August 2024.  They spoke to 27 people.

Overall, the feedback Healthwatch received from patients was positive, with several describing satisfaction with the quality of care and the accessibility of the surgery. Patients said that the new triage system used by the Practice (introduced in March 2024) was very good, easy to use and made it easier to get an appointment. 

Areas where patients expressed concerns included not always being able to see their preferred clinician and a lack of communication regarding who they would see before they arrived for their appointment. Some patients would like more clarity about who they were seeing and why before their appointment. 

Throughout the visit staff members were observed to be kind, courteous and considerate towards the needs of patients. Staff were observed on reception tending to queries, answering questions from patients, and helping support them to check in for their appointment. 

Staff feedback was positive regarding the support they received from the management team. They mentioned that the new triage system worked very well, easing pressure on the phonelines. However, most staff were of the view that the practice requires more employees to ease pressure on workloads. 

The Practice Manager explained that they are aware about concerns around staffing levels. We were told that the Practice is currently recruiting new staff, which should ease some of the existing pressures. It is hoped that this will help support with the workload issues and improve the patient experience. 

Several staff also mentioned that the system of sending text messages to patients, though generally effective, could be improved. It was mentioned, in some conversations, that the information sent to patients (regarding, for example, booking another appointment) was not always clear and sometimes caused confusion which resulted in patients calling the surgery unnecessarily. Further to this, one member of staff noted that the text messages often go out to several patients at the same time, immediately resulting in a number of phone calls which added further pressure one the phonelines.