Last updated:

      Monday, 20. October 2008

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BIRCHWOOD MEDICAL PRACTICE

Practice Satisfaction Survey 2007

Report date.  9 August 2007                       

Practice List Size 8789                                                                                    

No. of patients surveyed  256.

The Patient Satisfaction Survey is carried out annually and the results are provided by CFEP – UK Surveys, Exeter. This information will be shared with Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust and our patients.

The NHS and the practice continue to go through changes and new challenges.  The practice works hard to these meet demands, achieve targets and to continue to provide good patient care and improvement of our services.

Please see below comments made by patients when asked ‘how can we improve’.

As the survey is anonymous we cannot respond to patients directly and have therefore responded below.

Age     Sex      Comment

0-25     F    There is a certain member of the reception team who is very rude, they are the

only one of all the other members, the rest are very polite and helpful.  I found the doctor

that I took my child to was very unprofessional and I had to take them back to a doctor I

trusted more.                                                                      *See 5

0-25     F    All the doctors and nurses are brilliant.

0-25     F    More flexible opening hours.  Advanced doctor’s appointments bookings. *See 2

Employ me to paint a better mural!

0-25     F    One specific doctor couldn’t improve; they were thorough, provided a very good

explanation and made me feel totally at ease.

0-25     M         More magazines for men.          See *7

0-25     M         The practice is okay, as are the practitioners.

25-59   F          A better radio station.  See *8

25-59   F          Already doing an excellent job.  I have been a patient here for many years

and have felt that I get the best of everything. Excellent care and good service.

25-59   F          Always accommodate for last minute, nothing seems to be a problem.

25-59   F          Be able to see a doctor who you want on that day. Be able to book an

appointment in advance. All doctors should take the role of a good doctor, like one specific

doctor in this practice.

25-59   F          Could do with some more of the higher chairs with arms.  Most receptionists are very nice and helpful, occasionally one will forget so should please remain approachable. Overall, this practice and staff are of a high standard.

25-59   F          Excellent practice.

25-59   F          I have found the receptionist I have spoken to helpful.  When I ring in they

have told me about the doctors being able to back-date sick notes, have helped in arranging

appointments for me and have given me print outs which are very helpful.  The waiting

room is light and cool. As I have been very hot I like to arrive early and settle down before I

see my GP.  I have see several GP’s and found I have been looked after well and been put at

ease and found I am able to take to the GP well.  I am sure all the GP’s at this medical

practice are a dedicated team.

25-59   F          Keep up the good work.

25-59   F          Nice practitioners, spot on.

25-59   F          No improvements necessary. This is an excellent facility.

25-59   F          Phoning for appointments on the day, even if you start ringing at 8am. By the

time you get through all the appointments have gone with the doctor you require.

I am very happy with my GP, they are very good.                       See *2

25-59  F          Sometimes it would be helpful for the practice to be open on a Saturday

morning as it used to be.

25-59  M        As far as I’m aware opening hours are pretty much 8am to 6pm so can be tricky

getting in without taking the day off.  Late night opening would be useful.  See *2

Excellent, friendly service.

 25-59   M        Difficult to see where improvement could be made.  The doctors and nurses

that I have had contact with have been absolutely excellent, friendly, professional and

informative. 

25-59   M        Have been impressed with this service since I have joined the practice. Would

like a different way of making appointments, rather than frantic phone ringing. Maybe a

queuing system on the phones rather than having to keep on ringing back.

25-59  M         I have no problems with this practice, and do tell any newcomers around me

to use this practice.

25-59   M         I work away from the area so I have trouble getting an appointment when I

need one.   See *2

25-59  M         Make sure patients understand what is being said to them, maybe some sort of

follow-up service.

25-59   M         More phones ringing in the morning.

25-59   M         To be able to see a doctor or nurse on Saturday for non-emergencies.

25-59   M         Very good service, and polite. Very good practitioners, and polite.

25-59   F          Ability to book all time slot appointments online earlier, not just earlier times.

This registrar was excellent, a shame they aren’t staying.

25-59   F          Evening clinic or weekends. Very good staff.    See *2

25-59   F          Offer more natural treatments for depression, such as diet advice and

exercise advice.

25-59   F          Privacy could be improved by not broadcasting names for all to hear.  See *9

25-59   F          Unable to book appointments in advance on some occasions.  I use the

internet to book appointments and find the doctor I wish to see unavailable for a week or

more.   Satisfied with the practitioners.

25-59   M         In my opinion, this practice needs very little or no improvement, Every

doctor I’ve seen has been very helpful and understanding.

25-59   M         There is still a small problem of confidentiality at the reception desk i.e.

people can still overhear your conversation with the reception staff.  I think a television

could be put up as well as the piped music.  I think the balance is right and we are lucky to

have such a good quality of doctors and nurses. 

60+      F          I consider us very fortunate to have such a good practice in the area. I would

not presume to improve the practitioners.

60+      F          I find one specific nurse very patronising. I dread seeing this nurse for my

diabetic check, especially when the nurse has another nurse visiting with them.  I’ve felt

very belittled by this nurse too.    See * 5

60+      F          I find this a very helpful practice with staff.  I feel that there are more

doctor’s Practices in this area which would benefit from taking a leaf out of this practice

book. The practitioners are excellent, keep up the good work.

60+      F          One specific doctor is an excellent listener and adviser, couldn’t ask anything

better. 

60+      F          Play better music for the older patients occasionally!

60+      F          The computer booking service is wonderful; saves so much time both for

appointments and tablets.

60+      M         Better phone system in morning.

60+      M         Extremely happy with the service.

60+      M         If all of the NHS was as good there would be few complaints.

60+      F          Improve parking facilities for disabled patients displaying a blue badge.

60+      M         Leave the practice and practitioners well alone.

60+      M         This is overall an excellent practice!

?          F          Very good

?          F          I maybe don’t always want to tell the receptionist what’s wrong when I phone

for an appointment, but I understand why I have to.

?          F          Have later appointments. Notify if someone is running late on the strip message board.  I had to wait 10 days for blood tests to be taken.

?          F          Having been registered with this practice for less than a year I have only need to visit on a couple of occasions, but I have found the receptionist and medical staff much more helpful and professional that my previous surgery. 

?          F          I think that this practice is very good, but sometimes you have to sit longer than you have time to see the doctor or nurse.  The practitioners are fine every time I have been.

 ?          M         Totally satisfied.

1)      The Medical Practice & Practitioners   - Our patient list size is approx. 8823.

The practice and the telephone lines are open between 8:00am -6:30pm, Monday to Friday.

There is a 24 hr (7 day a week) prescription ordering line on 01522 501111.

GP’s

Dr Martin Latham         Full time  Male  Dr Catherine Armstrong            Part time Female

Dr Nicholas Smith        Full time  Male  Dr Susie Gough                        Part time Female

Dr Richard Williams      Full time  Male  Dr Rama Mark             Part time Female

We are also a training practice and may have one or two GP Registrars, a Foundation Doctor and a medical student.

Nursing Team  (all female)

Nurse Sally Wood – Nurse Practitioner and prescriber

Nurse H Lilley – Practice nurse and prescriber

Nurse Hayley Graham – Practice nurse

Nurse Sue Boothly – Practice nurse

Yvonne Glenford - Phlebotomist & healthcare assistant

Nurse Jenny Latham – Cytology nurse  

2)      Appointment System

GP appointments are available Monday to Friday, most days between 8:00am and 5.00pm for routine appointments – patients may be asked to come to the surgery after this time if their complaint is urgent (patients will need to be prepared to wait at this time due to the nature of the complaint).

The ‘out of hours’ service is available for patients between 6.30pm and 8.00 am each weekday and over the weekend.

Our appointments are a mixture of:

·        Advance bookings approx. up to one month ahead– bookable in advance with any doctor or nurse.

·        Appointments within 48 hours.

·        Open surgery for children age 0-12, Daily between 11.00-11.30am.

·        Telephone consultations with a GP.

To accommodate workers we offer appointments as early as 8am with a GP, early and late appointments with nurses and we do not close at lunchtime.  We now also offer appointments 6.30pm -8.30pm on most Wednesday evenings.

You can choose your own appointment slot and book with our on-line facility at www.patient.co.uk/surgery - you need to register with the receptionists for this service.

3)      Appointment Triage

Our receptionists will ask for a brief indication for the reason to ensure we can provide you with the best service or clinician and also to judge the urgency of your request – the receptionists does not need any specific details and we want to reassure you that your privacy will be respected.

The following requests can be arranged without a doctor’s appointment:

You may request a doctor of your choice or we may be able to suggest an appropriate GP due to their specialist interests:

Dr Mark                       GP with special interest in Gynaecology

Dr Armstrong               GP with special interest in Dermatology

Dr Smith                       GP with special interest in Urology.    Wart clinic – monthly.

Dr Williams                  Diabetes.

 4)      Ordering Prescriptions

You may order your prescription by the main telephone  01522 699999 between 8am – 6.30pm, 24 hr (7 days a week) answer phone request 01522 501111, email @ bmp@lpct.nhs.uk , or by post or by hand.  You can also register for the internet service with our receptionist and use

WWW.patient.co.uk/surgery.

5)      Complaints or Dissatisfaction of our Services

The practice welcomes any comments, feedback and complaints as it helps to improve our services to our patients.  Rudeness by or to our GP’s and staff is not acceptable.

Please ask to speak to the Practice Manager who will be pleased to help.

6)      Air Conditioning

We have been listening to our patient’s comments from the 2006 Patient Satisfaction Survey and have installed air conditioning to improve patient comfort in both the waiting room and the treatment rooms.

7)      Magazines

We try to ensure the magazines provided in the waiting room are in good condition and up to date – we are very fortunate that most of the magazines are donated by our patients.  There are a good mixture to suit both men and women.  Some men’s magazines including men’s health have been found not suitable as may be viewed by children.  Suggestions are welcome if certain magazines are preferred.

8)      CD/Radio

A CD is available to provide a calm soothing atmosphere and help block out some conversation for added confidentiality.   Some patients have made comment about the radio stations not being appropriate and so we will provide appropriate music via compact disc.

9)       Confidentiality

There is a window at the side of reception for use by patients that would like improved confidentiality.   We have installed a patient’s check-in system and a patient call system which is linked to the computer system to improve confidentiality and avoid patient names being called out in the waiting room.

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Overall Patient Ratings for Each Question