The Effectiveness of Communication within Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
Download (PDF 2.79 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton were asked by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Sustainability and Transformation Partnership to undertake a project regarding the accessibility, and information available relating to primary care extended hours appointments across the area. Between January and September 2019, Healthwatch investigated several methods of communications across Hampshire and Isle of Wight, in order to get a comprehensive snapshot of what was being implemented. They reviewed all surgery websites, visited 110 surgeries, phoned 100 surgeries and surveyed 276 people.
Overall, 78% of the practice websites had details of the extended access service. . However, only 51% of surgeries display printed materials regarding Extended Access, and of that, only 23% of those were placed in a prominent position. The survey found that only 43% of respondents were aware of the additional appointments on evenings and weekends. And of those 43%, only 25% were made aware by their own surgery, with most detailing word of mouth or ‘Other’ as the primary source of information. 1% were made aware by their local Clinical Commissioning Group.
The report has five recommendations about providing better information to patients about the extended access appointments.