Executive Summary of Thematic report, Herfordshire
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Between May and July 2016, 8 Enter and View visits were carried out across Herefordshire gathering patient experience feedback, in 8 GP surgeries, from 227 patients.
The Enter & View visits showed that overall patients in Herefordshire are fortunate to have good Primary Care services. A minority of patients raised issues impacting negatively on their experience.
Analysis of patient feedback led to the view that many of the few but common issues raised by patients, across practices, could be addressed by a combination of:
• Effective and functioning information technology. Improvements could be made by adding more local information about services available.
• Good personnel management and good customer service could be improved by looking at ways to reduce long waits to see “own GP” for continuity of care, especially for patients with emerging or existing, long and complex medical conditions. Offer a mix of practitioners alongside GPs. Offer information to educate patients. Reassure patients that systems are in place to ensure good communication and quality of care. Read patient notes before they arrive. Explaining appointment systems and telephone triage. Communication with Patient Participation Groups (PPGs). Contacting all patients when major changes are made. Being open to adapting the system to support people with special or additional needs. Disability awareness staff training. Creating alternative counters or patient friendly queuing systems.
• Effective joint working between different NHS and social care providers, and good patient engagement. Improvements could be made by developing joint ways to help primary care practitioners to keep abreast of pathways and thresholds. Good quality, up to date electronic medical records. A “Passport” to hand to the practitioner or show on a digital device. Communicating clearly to patients and engaging them in what will happen and what patients need to do. Staff to be open and welcome/encourage feedback.
• Clear consistent policy.