Enter and view: Hook Surgery

Healthwatch Kingston upon Thames gather information on people’s experiences of health and social care services and there are times when it is appropriate for Healthwatch Hackney to see and hear for themselves how services are being delivered: these visits are called ‘Enter and View’, they are not inspections.

Healthwatch Kingston upon Thames visited Hook Surgery, on 23/03/2015.

The summary of findings highlighted areas in relation to patient feedback, staff feedback and observation. Overall patients at Hook Surgery expressed that ease of booking appointments could be improved; only just over half of patients surveyed said they could get an appointment when they wanted one. Patients commented that the rush to get an appointment in the morning means the phone lines are busy, and it can be a negative experience. A good amount of patients surveyed said they could get an appointment with their preferred GP or Nurse, and it was commented this was not difficult to arrange. GP working hours was raised as a factor potentially preventing this availability for patients. The majority of patients felt they did not have to wait an unreasonable time before being called for their appointment. Most people said they felt the time with their GP or Nurse was adequate for their needs. The minority who stated they were unsure, provided comments that it depended on the situation and the problem they had. They stated there should be some flexibility in the appointment time, and that the GP should be sensitive to individual cases. Most patients surveyed said their GP had not told them about a community support service. The majority of people rated the amount of information available as very good, but when grading the display of the information it was graded as average. The information room within the waiting area is a good asset to the Merritt Medical Centre, however it was observed that the display of information materials made it difficult to use for this purpose. There was a wide range of information leaflets but they were not well organised, the tables had information also but this was untidy, it was commented that this is a missed opportunity as it seems off-putting for patients. These observations are backed up by other patients comments received in the surveys.

The main recommendations informed themes around information providing, appointment booking and the recruitment of volunteers.