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CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
Background
1.1 mruk research was commissioned in July 2008 by the Scottish Government to undertake research to support the development of the General Practice module of 'Better Together: Scotland's Patient Experience Programme'.
1.2 'Better Together, Scotland's Patient Experience Programme' aims to gather and act upon information from NHS patients and carers about their experience as health service consumers. Data gathering will include three national surveys across Scotland and a range of qualitative work.
1.3 Covering people in Scotland receiving hospital care (focused on Inpatient), people who receive Primary Care (focused on GP Services) and people with long-term conditions (including Cancer), the programme will support NHS Boards and frontline staff in working with patients and service users to drive forward service improvement.
1.4 In addition to supporting the regular collection and use of consistent detailed experiences of patients across NHS Scotland, the programme will also enable best practice to be shared between different service areas and by the Scottish Government to support national level improvements.
1.5 With regards to primary care it is hoped that a Scotland specific patient survey for use with the Quality Outcomes Framework as part of the General Medical Services Contract will be developed. As a consequence research was considered necessary to support and inform development of the instruments for a Scottish focussed patient survey. mruk research was commissioned to undertake this initial phase of research.
1.6 In this document we will detail the main objectives and the methods employed, before going on to discuss the main findings from the research.
Objectives
1.7 The overall aim of the research was to collect information and views from a representative sample of the Scottish population regarding perceived expectations and priorities around the provision of GP services.
1.8 Specifically, the research included an investigation of what is considered important when:
- Contacting the GP surgery
- Visiting the surgery
- Seeing a Health Professional
- Talking to a Health Professional
- Receiving prescribed medication
1.9 In addition, in order to aid analysis, the research also explored:
- Last time the GP surgery was visited (for 'oneself' or as a 'carer')
- Number of contacts with the GP surgery in the past year (for 'oneself' or as a 'carer')
- Whether the person had a long term condition, health problem or disability resulting in regular contact with the NHS
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