Enter and view: Barton Central Survey: revisit

Healthwatch North Lincolnshire carried out an unannounced Enter and View re-visit to Barton Central Surgery to gather patient feedback about appointment booking, overall experiences of the practice and possible areas for improvement. Representatives spoke with 30 patients and carers and observed the surgery environment. 

Overall, patients were positive about the care and customer service they received. Reception staff were frequently described as polite, kind and helpful, and 96% of patients who commented felt receptionists were either extremely helpful or quite helpful when trying to obtain an appointment. Healthwatch did not receive any negative comments about staff attitudes or customer service. 

The surgery was observed to be clean, tidy and accessible to wheelchair users. However, Healthwatch found that external signage remained limited and that the building was not easy to identify from a distance, an issue that had also been highlighted during a previous visit. The electronic patient information screen was poorly positioned, making it difficult for many patients to see and read the information displayed.

Access to appointments remained a significant concern for many patients. Although the proportion of people rating their experience of booking appointments as average or poor had reduced since the previous Healthwatch visit, 41% of respondents still reported difficulties. Patients described busy telephone lines, long waits to get through to reception and appointments being fully booked shortly after lines opened each morning. Some reported repeatedly redialling or queuing outside the surgery before opening in order to secure an appointment.

Many patients explained that when GP appointments were unavailable they were offered appointments with a nurse practitioner instead. The majority of patients did receive appointments on the same day they booked, but there was frustration about the process of obtaining them.

Use of the online appointment booking system remained very low. Only one patient interviewed reported routinely using the online service, despite previous recommendations from Healthwatch to promote it more actively. Healthwatch noted that information about online booking was not prominently displayed within the surgery and suggested that wider promotion could help reduce pressure on telephone booking systems.

Most patients were willing to see any available GP rather than insist on a particular doctor. However, continuity of care emerged as an important theme. Several patients expressed concern about recent GP turnover and reported having to repeatedly explain their medical history to different doctors. Some commented that seeing the same GP consistently would improve their experience and confidence in care. 

The report also identified opportunities to improve communication. Information about joining the Patient Participation Group (PPG) was limited, details explaining reception processes were absent, and clearer information about practice staff and their roles was not available. Healthwatch also noted that reception staff were not wearing name badges at the time of the visit. 

Healthwatch made several recommendations, including improving external signage, repositioning the patient information screen, promoting online booking services more actively, expanding information about the PPG, improving staff identification and considering ways to strengthen continuity of care during periods of GP turnover. The report also suggested extending online booking opportunities and making information more accessible to patients within the practice. 

In response, the practice manager acknowledged the findings and outlined actions already taken. These included introducing surgery-specific staff name badges, expanding online appointment availability, recruiting new GPs following earlier staffing changes, continuing to monitor telephone response times and pursuing improved external signage and staff information displays. The practice also highlighted positive aspects of the report, including patient satisfaction with reception staff and the fact that most patients who requested a particular GP were able to see that doctor.