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Access to GP surgeries
20/10/2008
A nationwide survey of GP patients is being undertaken by NHS Scotland to better understand how easy it is for them to see or speak to a doctor or nurse at their GP surgery.
From today Scotland's GP Access Survey will be sent to a sample of 543,000 people who are registered with general practices in Scotland, inviting them to complete the two page survey questionnaire.
The survey is designed to measure patients' experience of both being able to see or speak to a doctor or nurse within two working days when seeking advice fairly quickly and the ability to book appointments more than two days in advance.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said:
"Accessing health care and advice at a time when a patient needs it is at the heart of the principles of the NHS.
"Across Scotland GP practices and individual GPs are working to meet the priorities for patient care and services, providing better access to GPs, clinics and healthcare staff. This includes making sure patients are able to obtain advice quickly when they need it and to plan in advance to see a GP in order to fit in with their day to day lives and other commitments.
"It is important that GPs and surgeries get feedback from their patients on their experiences of contacting their practice so that, if necessary, this service can be improved. This national standardised survey will give us a national picture for the first time.
"I believe this is an invaluable exercise, one which, once again, puts patients and their input, right at the heart of the design, development and delivery of health services in Scotland. I would like to record my thanks, in advance, to all those patients who take the time to respond."
Welcoming the survey, Dr Dean Marshall, Chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said:
"This survey will provide an opportunity for patients in Scotland to feed back their views about how good they think access is to their GP services. It will also demonstrate how well practices balance the conflicting demands for rapid access and pre-booked appointments.
"We know that patients value NHS General Practice and I hope that this survey demonstrates just how much GPs are doing to deliver services to their patients."
The survey is being project managed by the Scottish Government's Analytical Services Division (ASD) and funded by the Scottish Government. The project is supported by a stakeholder group including National Services Scotland and the Scottish General Practitioners Committee of the BMA. The survey design and cognitive testing were undertaken by Ipsos MORI.
Scotland-wide results will be published by the Scottish Government next summer, with overall results for individual GP practices published in the Autumn (2009).
As part of the agreement between administrations and governments of the UK and the GPC (General Practitioners Committee of the British Medical Association) for the GMS contract from April 1, 2008, it was agreed that there would be changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). As a result, the Patient Experience domain changed to include two new indicators to reflect patient experience of both 48 hour access and advanced access (getting appointments more than two working days in advance). The first of these indicators will now be the measure of performance by Boards against the HEAT target for 48 hour access, replacing the current practice self reporting. The new indicators are:
* PE7 Patient experience of access (1)
The percentage of patients who, in the appropriate national survey, indicate they were able to obtain a consultation with a GP (in England) or appropriate health professional (in Scotland, Wales and NI) within 2 working days (in Wales this will be 24 hours). Range 70-90 per cent (23.5 points)
* PE8 Patient experience of access (2)
The percentage of patients who, in the appropriate national survey, indicate they were able to book an appointment with a GP more than 2 days ahead. Range 60-90 per cent (35 points)
The survey is anonymous and patients completing the survey form will not be able to be identified by their GP practice.
Participants were randomly selected from the NHS list of patients registered with a GP. Those analysing the responses will not be able to see patients' names or addresses, the data obtained from the survey will be held on a secure database without the use of discs or USB/memory sticks and individual patient details will not be obtainable.
Taking part in the survey is free and there will be no costs incurred by those in the sample.