We spoke with six patients who told us they were happy with the consultations they had with their GP. They said they had time to discuss their concerns during the consultation and that treatment, tests and test results were explained to them. They said that where needed they were given written information about health conditions. All said that they were able to get an appointment when they needed one however five of the six patients said that it could be difficult getting through on the phone to arrange an appointment or get results. Some comments made were:-'Getting through on the phone to make an appointment can be annoying but it doesn't change the good care received.'
'It's a very good practice.'
'I am always treated with care and kindness.'
'I am happy with the service provided.'
We found that patient's privacy, dignity and independence were respected.
There were practices in place to ensure patients experienced care and treatment that met their needs.
Appropriate measures were in place to ensure vulnerable adults and children were protected from abuse.
We found that the service had quality assurance systems to ensure patients were protected from risks to their health, welfare and safety.
We saw that results from the National Patient Survey in 2012, feedback from patients on the NHS Choices website for the past twelve months, an analysis of complaints over the last twelve months to the service and three complaints made to CQC indicated that patients experienced difficulty getting through on the telephone to make an appointment. There were also concerns around getting an appointment, delays in getting prescriptions and delays in referrals on to consultants. We found that the service had responded to some of the feedback and had made changes as a result. However, there was no method of collating all patient feedback from all sources to identify patterns and trends. This would then enable a robust plan of action to be put in place as to how the main issues identified were to be addressed.