When will i be seen GP appointments

Over the past 5 years, Healthwatch Lincolnshire has consistently received patient comments, relating to the difficulties they are experiencing getting an appointment to see a GP, resulting in us having over 1,000 comments in this area alone.

Healthwatch Lincolnshire devised a series of questions, about patients’ experiences of booking an appointment, to answer the following objectives: To identify patients views and experiences of making appointments at GP surgeries; To explore patients views on the impact of any difficulties they experience, in making appointments at GP surgeries; To ascertain patients knowledge of the appointment system, at their GP surgeries We chose a 2 phase approach to this project. The first involved face to face engagement, in 12 GP surgeries across the county. The other was an online only survey, open to all Lincolnshire patients. Healthwatch Lincolnshire felt it was important to analysis the two sets of data separately due to the differences in the way they were gathered.

Whilst the National GP survey and the Healthwatch Lincolnshire surveys all suggest that problems accessing appointments are not as widespread as thought, it is important to recognise there are some areas, where access to GP appointments is challenging e.g. East Lincolnshire (coastal). 1 in 4 patients told Healthwatch Lincolnshire having a delay in getting an appointment had an impact on them, with anxiety being the top reason. 1 in 3 patients told Healthwatch Lincolnshire they have used another service, when they could not get a GP appointment, with A&E being amongst the top place’s patients go to. Patients told Healthwatch Lincolnshire the telephone was the most popular way of contacting their surgery. However, from patient feedback to Healthwatch Lincolnshire, difficulty getting through on the telephone to the reception is the top cause of frustration. Throughout the survey, patients have placed an emphasis on receiving continuity of care and that may include seeing a named GP or other medical professional e.g. diabetic nurse. For patients who place particular importance on this, it could well have a negative and far reaching impact on patient experience, including such things as access to GP appointments. There is an appetite from patients to access services, such as text messaging and video conferences. Lessons learnt and best practice could be transferred from GP to GP service, across the county.