Partners:							Shotfield Medical Practice
Dr. Heather Lings 					Jubilee Health Centre
Dr. Bernard Lewis						Shotfield
Dr. Joanna Munden					Wallington
Salaried GPs:						Surrey SM6 0HY
Dr. Ruba Sukumar					Tel. No:  020 8669 7612
Dr. Hani Mahfooth					Fax No:  020 8773 1801

REPORT & ACTION PLAN FROM THE PRACTICE ESTABLISHED PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP & PATIENT SURVEY 
CONDUCTED JANUARY-MARCH ‘13

The Practice Patient Participation Group

The practice first established a group during 2011/12.  It was decided to make this a ‘virtual’ group in the first instance and to review the format of the group again in 2012/13.  In 2012/13 this was reviewed but it was decided to remain as a virtual group for this year as it was felt we needed more information and support in moving to a face to face group which had been offered by Sutton Link in the form of general information, terms of reference, etc but which had not yet been received by the time we conducted the survey in January 2013.  The practice continues to advertise membership of this group via:

•	The practice website
•	Posters on site
•	The message boards in the waiting areas
•	Word of mouth from individual clinicians, staff or other PPG members

All these methods together have enabled the practice to attract membership from a fairly good cross section of the patient population.  As recruitment has continued, if it was felt more patients were needed from a specific group, i.e. age range, clinicians have attempted to approach patients in this group directly as they are seen.  At the end of 2011/12 the group had a total of 11 members, 8 females and 3 males.  In 2012/13 this has increased to 17 members, 13 females and 4 males.  Five members are in the age range 75-84 years, 3 are 65-74 years, 6 are 55-64 years, 2 are 45-54 years and 1 is 35-44 years.  It is felt this is a reasonable selection of age ranges for a developing group and we are pleased to have gained 6 new members since last year.  

Please see below the current practice demography at end March 2013:

	0-4	5-16	17-24	25-34	35-44	45-54	55-64	65-74	75-84	85-89	90+	Totals	
Male	352	748	482	635	668	848	557	359	211	45	23	4928	
Female	323	695	526	737	760	913	581	441	315	101	73	5465	
Totals	675	1443	1008	1372	1428	1761	1138	800	526	146	96	10393	

This shows the practice has considerably more female than male patients in 9 out of the 11 age groups, therefore, it is felt the membership of the PPG also remains representative of that fact.  

The patient group is also evaluated in terms of ethnicity and is as detailed below:

White/British	Asian/Indian	
16	1	

Although the group was found to be predominantly white (94%), in our locality of Sutton data from 2009 suggests that 83% of residents are white and 6% are asian..  Therefore it was felt to be fairly in line with local ethnicity that members of our PPG are predominantly white in ethnicity.  Updated data from 2011 census is not yet available.  

The practice was unable to encourage membership from any broader range of age groups or ethnicity despite its best efforts to do so.  

The practice used the survey monkey toolkit this year to produce the survey and to analyse the results.  

The practice asked all members of the group to pick priorities for the survey this year.  The practice then compiled the survey in accordance with these priorities and we asked patients to complete the survey during a 3 week period in February (4th to 22nd February).  Surveys were available at reception, via the website and were also sent in some general mailings to try and capture a reasonable number and selection of patients this year.  

Contact is normally made with PPG members by email but for those without email post or telephone contact may also be used.  It was important that those wishing to participate would not feel excluded if they did not have email or internet access and this is highlighted in the advertising to patients.  

The practice is continuing to advertise for new members of the group and is keen to try and move to a face to face group in 2013/14, existing members have been informed of this.

The Survey 

The priorities for the survey were again determined by responses from members of the Practice PPG.  The most popular priorities were; getting an appointment, telephone answering and access, clinical care, and patient information provision.

The survey was made available online, via a direct link from the practice website and in hard copy from reception.  Posters were displayed to alert patients to the survey and both clinicians and reception staff also tried to routinely ask patients if they could spare time to complete the survey while they were on site.  Some surveys were also sent out with routine letters and other correspondence to patients.  

A total of 55 surveys were completed in a 3 week period.  Of these, 15 respondents were male and 40 were female, again fairly representative of the higher female population to male within the practice.  A good cross section of the practice population took part with surveys completed by those from all age groups and employment statuses listed.

Survey Results

General observations from the results were that the practice scored positively in many areas including:

•	93% of patients said they had found it either very or fairly easy to get through to reception on the phone in the last 12 months
•	67% of patients said they had found it either very or fairly easy to see a doctor in an emergency in the last 12 months (ie same day), 26% said that they didn't know or hadn't tried to do so
•	85% of patients said they had found it either very or fairly easy to see a doctor routinely in the last 12 months, 6% said that they didn't know or hadn't tried to do so
•	73% of patients said they felt they had been given enough information about the practices and the services offered

Other observations were:

•	59% of patients said they were aware of the practice leaflet compared to 79% who said they were aware of the practice website
•	54% of patients said they found information provided to them about other services either very good or good
•	nearly half the patients said that they would prefer to receive information about the practice or other services by email, the next most popular method of communication was the website and with other items such as prescriptions and letters issued, both these had approx 30% preferences expressed

Action Plan

The survey results were shared with the Practice Patient Representative Group and the following action plan was developed: 

1.  Further highlighting the availability of the practice leaflet.  This is routinely offered to all new    patients enquiring and registering and is also available from reception to patients attending.  The position has significantly improved on last years survey results where 53% said they were unaware of the practice leaflet and this year it had reduced to 41% who said they were not aware of it.   The practice will continue its efforts to try and ensure leaflets are available to all patients as widely as possible and will do so by:

•	maintain a message on the digital display boards 
•	introducing a message on repeat prescriptions (this did not happen last year as planned due to restrictions on our clinical system but this system is changing this year so should now be possible or if not will be done by separate labels)
•	ensuring the leaflet is prominently positioned at reception for patients to see when they attend
•	highlight the availability of the leaflet via our website

2. Promoting the use of our online facility to book routine appointments with the doctor or to request repeat medication.  The survey results showed that 30% of patients said they preferred to make appointments online and yet our records show that only 17.5% of our total practice population are actually registered to use the online service.  In 12/13 the online service has changed so that patients can now register for it without the need to attend and collect initial registration/log in information from the practice, making it easier to establish online access remotely, although that access is later confirmed by the practice when the patient next attends an appointment.  We will promote use of the online service by:

•	putting a message on the digital display/calling board
•	introducing a message on repeat prescriptions (again same as point 1 above)
•	ensure all newly registering patients are offered the information to sign up for the online service 
•	highlight this service on our website and in our practice leaflet

3. Nearly 80% of respondents said they were aware of the practice website.  This is clearly a very useful method of keeping patients informed and provided additional information so the practice will ensure that this website is regularly updated and that we use it as fully as possible to share information about our services and others available to patients.  We will add to the website:

•	More information about voluntary services available in the local area
•	More information about services provided by local pharmacies
•	Regular updates on clinical commissioning, new services and developments for patients within the entire Sutton area

4.	50% of respondents said their preferred method of communication was by email so the practice will continue to collect email addresses from patients having now added this to our new registration form and general update questionnaires available at reception.  During 2012/13 the practice introduced MJOG which is a text messaging service that automatically reminds patients of their appointments 24 hours before, offers the option to cancel that appointment if it's no longer required and which can also be used for other text messaging to notify patients of health campaigns, such as flu vaccination, NHS health checks, etc.  The practice will continue to use this service, which is very useful, but it will also now look at how it might develop the use of MJOG to include email contacts for a broader provision of information to patients than can be achieved via text messaging.  

In this years survey the practice also took the opportunity to ask some general questions about our new premises which we moved to in May 2012.  Overall responses to the new premises were considered to be extremely positing and in particular we note that:

•	85% of patients said that overall they found the new premises either very good or good75% said that they thought reception was either very good or good
•	71% said that the waiting areas were either very good or good

The most negative area was signage and check-in, where 39% of patients had said either this was neither good nor poor, poor, very poor or had answered not applicable.  Work continues throughout the building and externally for a review of signage.

Please see attached details of other comments provided by respondents to question 11 regarding our premises.

Timescale for Actions

Points 1-3 above will all be addressed by the practice within the next 3-6 months.  Point 4 will be addressed by the end of the year, ahead of the next patient survey in early 2014.  

Confirmation of Practice Opening Times

Monday to Friday	08:00 to 19:00 

We have a wide selection of appointments with both GPs and nurses throughout our opening times.  We also offer some extended hours appointments* with a doctor and/or nurse as follows:

Monday		18:30 to 19:30
Tuesday		07:30 to 08:00
Wednesday		18:30 to 19:30
Thursday		07:30 to 08:00

* patients attending extended hours appointments with the doctor or nurse before or after normal opening hours for the building will be buzzed in by intercom at the front door by relevant reception staff, this is to maintain security to the building as a whole for all providers outside normal working hours

SK – 20.03.13