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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Background & objectives
1. mruk research was commissioned by the Scottish Government to undertake research to support the development of the General Practice ( GP) module of 'Better Together: Scotland's Patient Experience Programme'.
2. The aim of the research was to collect information and views from a representative sample of the Scottish population regarding their expectations and priorities for the provision of GP services. Findings will be used to inform the development of a Scottish GP patient survey.
Methodology & sample profile
3. Given the nature of the research, a quantitative research exercise was required, with an in-home omnibus approach being considered the most cost-effective and representative.
4. A total of 1,040 interviews were undertaken between the 8 and the 14 August 2008 using mruk's monthly in-home omnibus. Interviews were undertaken with a representative sample of the Scottish population and were conducted on a random route basis. Quotas were established for age, gender, socio-economic group and area, with only one interview being conducted per household.
5. In order to gather views on what issues are of greatest importance when visiting or using GP services, respondents were asked to rank items across a number of categories that related to the patient's experience of GP practices, covering:
- Contacting the GP surgery
- Visiting the GP surgery
- Seeing a Health Professional
- Talking to a Health Professional
- Prescribing of medicines
6. For each of the above, respondents were asked to rank how important a range of items were by indicating the most important, 2 nd most important and least important factor.
Main findings
7. The majority of respondents had visited their GP Surgery, or Health Centre, within the last year, either for themselves (83%) or in the role as a carer (82%).
8. Of those respondents who had visited their GP Surgery in the past year, a fifth (21%) had contact their surgery once, and two fifths (40%) had contacted the surgery 2 to 4 times. Twelve percent had contacted their surgery 10 or more times. These people were more likely to be older (65+ yrs, 17%) and have a long term condition or disability resulting in regular contact with the NHS1 (30%).
9. When contacting the GP surgery, results suggest getting the right appointment was the priority for people. 'Getting an appointment on the same day' was the 1 st or 2 nd most important factor for almost two thirds (64%) of respondents. "Seeing my preferred doctor or nurse" was a priority amongst older respondents, and those with a long term condition, health problem or disability, with 44% rating this the 1 st or 2 nd most important factor.
10. A GP surgery which was easy to get to was of principal importance when thinking about visiting the GP surgery (50% rating this the 1 st or 2 nd most important factor).
11. The healthcare professional having personal knowledge of the person's medical history and having access to medical records and test results were of prime importance when seeing a Healthcare Professional, with 71% overall rating either of these as the 1 st or 2 nd most important factor.
12. The healthcare professional having time to not only talk to patients, but also having time to listen to them (with over 50% in each case rating these as 1 st or 2 nd most important) were the main priorities for people when talking to a Health Professional.
13. A range of issues were considered important when being prescribed medicines, particularly around being told: about side effects; how and when to take medication; and what the medicines are for (one third overall rating the latter as 1 st importance).
14. It should be noted that a proportion of respondents found it difficult to offer an opinion regarding what aspects of GP services were 'least important' to them. This would suggest that all the factors presented to respondents as part of this study were considered important to some degree.
15. Should more detailed prioritisation of factors be considered necessary, mruk research would recommend focus groups and cognitive testing of research tools is undertaken .
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