Communication: I want it that way

Healthwatch Westmoreland and Furness undertook engagement on the topic of accessible health care services during the period 14 August to 7 October 2023.  In total 119 people shared their experiences and feedback via a survey and focus groups. The aim of this project was to explore how accessible the information and advice was from GPs, dentists and pharmacies (particularly in reference to those living with impairments). 

Key themes: 

• Health information and advice is usually accessed via the internet or from leaflets. 
• Access needs sometimes have to be repeated when making an appointment with a medical service, however, for the majority this is not the case. 
• The initial appointment is usually via telephone these days, especially for triage and an in-person appointment arranged as a follow-up if necessary. However, the preferred appointment method would be to have the initial appointment in person.
•  Some patients are not given a reason why they have not been given an in-person appointment, however, a common reason given to patients is that there are no in-person appointments available. 
• Most people have no issues or problems getting to medical appointments due to transport, especially if the services are local. Issues arise when people are reliant on others (for example friends, family or public transport) to get to appointments, especially when services are not local. Then there are often difficulties experienced. 
• GP websites are regarded as more accessible than dentist or pharmacy websites.
• Often at appointments people feel that they got the time they needed to discuss the medical issue with the medical practitioner, however, for most people this does not happen at every appointment. 
• For most people the health advice, diagnosis/prognosis given to them was easy to understand and delivered in an accessible way. 
• Overall GPs are better at asking their patients their communication preferences than dentists or pharmacies. The preferred methods of contact highlighted were by email, telephone and text message

The report contains eight recommendations about improving communications.