Friends and Family Test
As of 1st December 2014 all GP Practices will be asking patients to complete the Friends and Family test questions that will be monitored by NHS England on a monthly basis.
This means during your visit to the surgery, you will be asked to complete the questionnaire and provide any feedback on the practice/ consultation/ care you have received. For example, one question asked is:
'We would like you to think about your recent experiences of our service. How likely are you to recommend our GP Practice to friends and family if they need similar care or treatment?'
Your feedback is anonymous and will be valuable to the Practice; it will give us information on what our patients think we do best and will also give us information on areas where we need to improve.
The Friends and Family Test has already been used in hospitals across the country and has proved a useful tool in obtaining patient experiences.
For more information, please visit:
www.nhs.uk/friendsandfamily
Completing the Friends and Family Test
If you would like to complete the Friends and Family Test, you can find the questionnaires located on the front reception desk, and in the waiting area. Alternatively you can click on the 'Have your say' link 'Friends and Family Test' to complete electronically.
Results
Thank you to all of those who have provided feedback. Please see the Friends and Family Results tab for feedback.
The below comment we received from one person's anonymous feedback:
I find it very difficult to obtain an appointment. I feel that you do not carer for workers. I am disappointed that I had to sit and wait 1 hour and 10 minutes in urgent access when I felt really unwell. I am astonished that you put up the number of appointments that go unattended. The information displayed should be positive and upbeat and this is not. To get a future dated appointment it's weeks in advance. When you arrive at the surgery the place is empty. My family and I have to take a day off sick to attend a routine appointment. There is no follow up or continuity. The best practices are to know your patients and preventative medicine.
- Anonymous on January 2019
We apologise for the delay of 1 hour 10 minutes to see the GP. Unfortunately at times our GP’s do not run to exact time due to demands and emergencies that arise on the day however we appreciate the 1 hour 10 minute waiting time is not acceptable. If patients in the waiting room need medical attention upon arrival for symptoms such as chest pain, shortness of breath or disorientation they will be seen as a priority and will not be left waiting in the reception area. If you feel ill, you can wait in a separate room if one is available. We also now have extra catch up slots and longer surgeries to try to cut down on the waiting time.
We offer extended hours to help accommodate patients such as our working population however all of our patients have access to these appointments. These hours include early morning surgeries on a Tuesday and Friday morning, late night surgeries on a Wednesday evening, one Saturday morning surgery per month along with opening Thursday afternoons at full capacity which some local practices do not offer. As an addition to this we offer appointments at Woodhouse Medical Centre, our Satellite Hub, 7 days a week from 8am – 10pm where our GP’s offer their services out of hours. Our reception team are able to book appointments at the hub directly from Crystal Peaks Medical Centre.
We appreciate the waiting time for a routine appointment is not ideal however, if you need to be seen urgently we run Urgent Access daily.
We display the number of non-attendances in the surgery to encourage patients to understand what effect it has on other patients when they miss appointments and to encourage them to cancel any appointments they are unable to attend in the future. This has a knock on effect on the waiting time for a routine appointment as mentioned in the above feedback.