WESTBURY Group Practice has criticised the recent NHS GP Patient Survey, which ranked the practice as performing below average compared to other GPs in the region and nationally.
The survey highlights a number of areas for the practice to improve, including how patients contact the practice by telephone, and the expectations of patients who want to speak to their preferred GP.
However, Westbury Group Practice – which manages both White Horse Health Centre and Bratton Surgery – has said that the survey is not a ‘true and fair survey’, highlighting that only 0.5% of its 22,667 patients were surveyed.
Managing partner at the Westbury Group Practice, Mark Dickson, told White Horse News, “We are very disappointed that this survey is published every year as it is not a true and fair survey.
“Of our 22,667 patients, only 252 surveys were sent to patients and of those, only 109 responses were returned. That is 0.5% of our population. Many of the higher performing surgeries have a response percentage many times greater.”
The results of the NHS GP patient survey, published last month, said that 72% of patients surveyed of Westbury Group Practice described their overall experience of the practice as ‘good’ – compared to the local CCG average of 85%, and the national average of 82%. It said that the practice also performed below average in a number of other areas, with 55% of patients saying that they find it easy to get through to this GP practice by phone, compared to the local average of 72%, and the national average of 65%.
Also, 29% of patients said that they usually get to see or speak to their preferred GP when they would like to, compared to the local average of 50%, and national average of 45%.
Mark Dickson added, “We conduct our own survey every year with the help of our Patient Participation group (PPG). The PPG is completely independent from the surgery and therefore the results can be relied upon as true, fair and unbiased. The questions asked in the survey are devised by the PPG. The results of this survey are discussed and changes made where necessary to continually address concerns and make improvements.
“In the PPG survey, only 12% of responders (1,214 completed surveys) were dissatisfied with the telephone system. We have, however, made some adjustments to improve our caller options. On flexibility of appointments offered, only 14.7% of responders were dissatisfied with the appointments they were offered. As mentioned previously, we are continuously reviewing capacity, operations and responding to patients comments and complaints to ensure any issues are addressed in a timely and effective manner.”
