People's experiences of using GP websites to access information
Download (PDF 1.43 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Somerset wanted to understand why over half the people from Somerset who took part in the NHS England GPPS survey didn’t use their GP website. They undertook a survey, ran focus groups and mystery shopped GP websites. They spoke to 272 people.
A third of the people in the survey said that their preferred method to access information about health and wellbeing was a GP appointment. Most of these people said they had access to digital services.
The main reason given for using a GP surgery website in the past 12 months was to try to book an appointment. There were a variety of reasons why people hadn’t access their GP website, including not knowing they had one and that they had no reason to.
The variety of third-party services such as AskMyGP and differences in what they provide causes confusion and, in some cases, disadvantages.
The most common answer for not having access to digital services was that people do not know how to, or do not have the confidence, to use them.
A focus group of care leavers found that they were comfortable with digital access to GPs. Focus groups with people with sight loss found that few people used the website of their GP.
The report contains six recommendations about digital access to GPs and websites.