Enter and view: Rother House Medical Centre

Healthwatch Warwickshire did an announced Enter and View visit to Rother House Medical Centre 26th October 2015. The surgery is in a well sign posted, extended purpose built building sharing a site with a pharmacy and a clinic. The internal is clean, functional and light. There is a pay and display car park for patients with two disabled parking spaces, bike parking and a drop off point.

The Healthwatch Enter and View team found the surgery met almost all their observation criteria. A notice on the wall informed patients that they can have some privacy at reception if they needed. There was a combination of a tannoy system and collection of patients by staff from waiting room. Translators can be booked upon request and name of the GPs and staff were displayed in entrance area of the surgery. The Patient Participation Group was not advertised very well.

The questionnaire asked the patients attending the surgery about appointments, access, parking, signage, staff attitudes, cleanliness and the quality of care amongst other things. Out of the 37 patients interviewed 23 found the appointment system to be good while 3 found it to be poor, “You have to wait until the morning of the appointment to book and then to get an appointment is difficult. Online booking is also difficult if you want a specific GP. You also have to wait 2-3 weeks.” A few patients commented they would like the surgery to be open on weekends but otherwise 34 found the opening hours to be good. 34 out of 37 said they found the GP to be good and the Nurse and the reception staff also received good rating. Only 17 found the punctuality of the appointments to be good, “They don’t communicate if they are running late.”

Healthwatch made five recommendations base on the feedback received from the patients:

• The Surgery look into the concerns raised by the patients in respect of the appointment booking system.

• Informing patients on the day of any delays which may impact their appointment.

• The Surgery better communicate options around ordering repeat prescriptions and support those who are struggling to use the telephone system to find a more suitable alternative if necessary.

• The PPG be given their own notice board in the waiting room so that patients are aware of the role of the PPG and have opportunity to review documents such as the minutes of meetings and results of surveys.

• The Surgery advertise the availability of weekend and evening ‘Commuter Clinics’ in the waiting room so that more patients are aware of this service.

The surgery responded saying they are working on improving communication with patients by recruiting and training more staff and implementing other systems. Some new systems have been started to make it easier for patients to book and cancel appointments online and consequently reduce telephone traffic.

There were further comments on the car park, advertising the PPG, the doors being open and availability of appointments.