Thank you all very much for responding to the survey that I and Drew Gardner carried out on the new GP appointment system introduced last November at Frome Medical Practice. It was important to help see what people were experiencing.

With over 250 responses in, we prepared a draft report and sent it to the Practice to review the findings. Please see our report here – https://adamboyden.mycouncillor.org.uk/2018/02/24/gp-survey-results/. The issues raised were also covered by ITV West Country, BBC Somerset radio, Frome FM, Frome Times, and Somerset Live.

12% of respondents were satisfied – patients who have been able to get same day appointments or advice, and prefer not having to wait weeks to see their GP, or hours in the walk in clinic. The new system has significantly reduced missed appointments and ‘unnecessary’ appointments. 20% were neutral. However, 66% of respondents were unsatisfied. The biggest issues were with busy working people having difficulties having to be available to see their GP the same day, with an inability to make most appointments in advance, and with taking a callback while at work. Some have had trouble making an appointment at all. Other issues are long waiting times on the phone, concerns about telephone diagnoses, and that some people with mental health / anxiety issues found it more stressful.  This is evidence of a significant strain on GP services, with a national and local GP shortage (due at least in part to GPs retiring, or otherwise leaving the country or the profession, and not being replaced), and NHS underfunding that is just not keeping pace with demand. Over the last 5 years, Somerset CCG has seen a 25% reduction in the number of GPs, and a 17% increase in demand for primary care  (see a Kings Fund report here, and the Lib Dems report here). The Government knows about this and has not addressed it.

Frome Medical Practice recently carried out a review of their GP appointment system, and have made some improvements as a result. Please see the leaflet here – (FMP Q and A). This will be publicised in the local newspapers (see Frome Times here) and will be on the Practice’s website here shortly. The leaflet states ‘”Following the introduction of Patient Connect we have listened to your feedback and made a number of changes to improve the service we offer. Also to support your use of Patient Connect we have compiled some top tips to help you access the right care, at the right time, with the right health professional.  Many patients have told us how they have benefited from same day access and no longer needing to wait over 4 weeks for routine care. However, we understand that there are difficulties in getting the help or information that you need and we are working to resolve this”.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute their experiences to the survey – the point of it was to find out what people were experiencing and feed that back to the Practice so they could improve access. We hope it will do just that.  If your experience has not improved, and you would like us to raise new issues, please do get in touch again.