Enter and view: Delamere Medical Practice

Healthwatch Trafford undertook an enter and view visit to the Delamere Medical Centre on 7 October 2025.  They spoke to 295 people.

The survey responses showed that a large proportion of patients were satisfied with the practice. The majority of surveyed patients said the practice was fully accessible for their needs, and the vast majority have not faced any barriers due to disability, language or personal circumstances. When patients do complain, most are satisfied with how their complaints are handled. 

The practice did particularly well in terms of the respect shown by patients to staff; two-thirds of patients said that staff always listened to them and treated them with respect. However, the feedback shows that there is room for improvement across several areas. Communication between the practice and patients should be improved, particularly in terms of updating patients if the date or time of their appointments has been changed. 

Accessibility, although sufficient for most patients, could be improved, particularly in the reception area. The most common feedback was that patients had difficulty booking appointments. Firstly, many patients found the online booking system unfamiliar and difficult to use. They need more support from the practice with transitioning to the new online system, as many of them only know how to book by phone or in person.

 Secondly, most patients say they sometimes or always struggle to get an appointment when needed. Delays of several weeks are common, and the practice should work to reduce this and better inform patients regarding the possibility of urgent appointments.

Some patients regret the loss of services such as mental health nurses and podiatry. Others suggested that the practice should improve its integration with the pharmacy, as some patients have struggled to get their repeat prescriptions. Continuity of care can also suffer when patients are given appointments with different doctors each time. Patients must also be better informed of the complaints system at the practice – over half of respondents were unsure which methods are available for raising a complaint.

Patient feedback regarding the quality of care also shows areas for improvement; only 39% of respondents said that their health needs were ‘always’ being met at the practice, and most patients surveyed were unhappy with the waiting times for their pre-booked appointments at the practice. Despite these areas for improvement, most patients said that staff always treated them with respect, and patients recognised the challenges that the practice staff face.

 Carers, practitioners and receptionists also had the opportunity to feed back through dedicated surveys. The key theme from the carer survey was a request for more recognition, and 67% said that they had never been offered any support as a carer.

 The practitioner survey showed that most practitioners are confident in their responsibilities, but some responses showed that not all practitioners were fully aware of patient rights or how to request translation services or other reasonable adjustments. The receptionist survey showed that although they were mostly clear about their role, they did struggle with call volume, booking system issues, and particularly a lack of staff.