Enhanced patient access to GP practices in Hounslow
Download (PDF 979.89 KB)Summary of report content
North West London ICS asked Healthwatch Hounslow to undertake research on enhanced patient access to GP surgeries, in the light of local access problems to GPs. Healthwatch visited GP practice waiting areas over an eight week period in August and September 2023 to talk to patients.
People still prefer to phone their GP to book an appointment Over four in five survey respondents (87%) said that they chose to call their GP surgery to get an appointment.
Many experience long waits on the phone to get through to their practice with experience varying from practice to practice. 31% reported that it took them ‘5 minutes or less’ to get through to someone, and a lucky 5% got through ‘immediately’. However, 24% said they waited on the phone for 20-30 mins and a further 17% for 30+ minutes . 3
Large numbers of people don’t readily try other means to book an appointment, apart from calling. 44% of the respondents didn’t use any other method of contact.
Most people do not know about accessing their GP via online triage systems. However those that do, get a quick response and are satisfied. 70% of the people didn’t know about online triage. However, of those who tried using it, 70% got a response within 48 hours and 82% were satisfied with the response.
Awareness of evening and weekend appointments is 50/50. Those who are aware, access it to a good degree. 46% of those who were aware of the enhanced access times had an enhanced access appointment.
People are not readily offered enhanced access appointments. 82% of people have not been offered an enhanced access appointment
People are willing to travel for enhanced access GP appointments. 77% of the people showed willingness to access another nearby GP for enhanced access.
People are accessing different healthcare professionals within general practice. However, the majority are still seeing their doctor and prefer to see the same doctor. 71% of people had their appointment with doctors, while 21% saw other healthcare Professionals; within this category,15% specifically saw nurses.
Expectations and reality around the timeframe for appointments measure up where emergency appointments are concerned, but there is a mismatch for standard appointments 51% of people received a standard appointment within 1-3 or 4-7 days; 72% expect an appointment within the same time frame.
The report contains 18 recommendations about improving access to GP appointments.