Access to GP appointment systems

Healthwatch County Durham carried out a survey, engagement activities and Enter and View visits in 2018 to gather people's views on their experiences of making appointments to see their GP where Triage or Care Navigation systems were in place.

This work was done as issues with GP appointments were one of the most common signposting enquiries received by Healthwatch County Durham and there were changes taking place with appointment systems in the area. The results of a survey by Healthwatch County Durham also confirmed that this topic was important to the public for further investigation.

The report identifies that systems that involved making telephone calls for appointments seemed to cause some of the biggest concerns for people due to problems getting through to the surgery, particularly at peak times. Triage systems introduced by some surgeries seemed to be well-received by people who had accessed them. The Care Navigation system adopted by all the practices in County Durham was still in the early stages of implementation and there were mixed responses to it - a significant number of people did not know about the system yet, and some people had concerns about privacy and confidentiality. During the Enter and View visits most people were happy with the appointment systems at their surgeries, however negative comments were noted about the length of time taken for calls to be answered at the surgery and the availability of appointments.

Based on these activities, the report provides seven observations for GP practices to consider surrounding: confidentiality in both reception areas and on the telephone; accessibility of the reception area; practice opening hours; information provided to people whilst they are on hold or in a telephone queue; information about Care Navigation; provision of Triage systems; and the content and accessibility of practices' websites, including information about making compliments, comments and complaints.