A PPG is a group of patients and staff who meet on a regular basis to discuss the practice.
It provides a forum for two way communication between the practice and group members, giving patients the opportunity to influence decision making and support planning and delivery of practice initiatives.
If you are interested please pick up a leaflet at the reception desk, or speak to reception who will pass your details onto our patient liaison manager.
Our PPG met and discussed the health and social benefits for our patients in joining local groups. They would like to promote WALKING FOR HEALTH IN HESKETH PARK to all our patients.
Health walks are provided by your local walking for health scheme. Free 'Walking for Health in Hesketh Park' every Thursday at 1.30pm.
Pick up a registration form today from the surgery!
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Discussions our PPG has been involved in so far:
Our patients said access is an issue especially getting through to the practice on the telephone in the busy morning period.
Our aims have been:
- To improve patient access, handling telephone calls and booking of appointments
The practice continues to look at ways of improving telephone access. In common with many other practices, difficulty getting through on the telephone in the busy morning period is a problem that comes up repeatedly. To enable the reception staff to concentrate on answering the telephone during these busy periods and to ensure equal access, patients were asked not to make appointments in person at the desk between 8.10 am and 9.30 am.
In November 2014 the practice introduced a new telephone system. The system enables us to hold a call when the practice is receiving a large volume of calls and a message is played to inform the patient to hold and the call will be answered as soon as a receptionist is available. Many patients have commented that this has improved their experience when telephoning the practice.
We want to improve on this further and are currently exploring options of a phone system that integrates into our patient clinical system. This will enable us to prioritise vulnerable patients holding in a queue, be able to manage and monitor our call volume better and allow patients to book automated appointments over the phone no need to queue.
In September 2015 we took on another member of staff to enable another phone line to be manned in the busy morning periods.
Members of the practice team have regular in house training and discussions at monthly meetings on how the practice can improve the experience of booking appointments. Practice staff have been trained in emergency call handling.
- Improve customer service, confidentiality and privacy of the reception area
All members of reception staff participate in customer service and conflict resolution training annually. The practice team meets once a month to discuss any issues, concerns and improvements that can be implemented, discussions with our PPG our fed into these meetings.
In March 2015 a redesign of the practice reception area took place. The redesign was to improve upon the following factors, confidentiality, privacy and good customer service. A private interview room is also available on request and a sign is displayed in reception.
- Accelerate online services
The practice became an accelerator site for online services in 2015 and trialled full medical record access online with PPG group members and selected patients’ with long term conditions.
The practice chose to become an accelerator site because we are committed to improving practice services. The practice is now offering patients access to their medical records online, which will enable patients to become more involved with managing their own healthcare.
What we would like to do as a group moving forward
- Improve the patient GP Patient Survey
Despite the improvements that have been made in previous years we still fail to do as well as we would like on the GP Patient Survey.
Areas we are committed to improving upon are:-
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|
Aggregated data for January to March 2014 & July to September 2015 |
Aggregated data for January to March 2015 & July to September 2015 |
In house data collected Oct to Dec 2015 |
|
Generally, how easy is it to get through to someone on the phone? |
42%
|
51% |
73.63% |
|
How helpful do you find the receptionists at the surgery? |
79% |
85% |
97.80% |
|
Overall how would you describe the experience of making an appointment?
|
57% |
63% |
84.62% |
|
How satisfied are you with the hours that your GP surgery is open?
|
67% |
72% |
93.41% |
|
Overall, how would you describe your experience of the surgery?
|
86% |
84% |
95.60% |
|
Would you recommend your GP surgery to someone who has just moved into the area?
|
81% |
86% |
95.60% |
*above CCG average *below CCG average
The PPG and the practice continue to discuss ways in which we can improve the survey results and practice services by conducting in house surveys.
