Whilst the clinical care provided by the Practice continues to be rated highly by patients, access to appointments and waiting times to contact the Practice by telephone remain the predominant challenges.
The number of consultations has grown by at least 16% over the last seven years and the trend remains upwards. The Practice is evolving to meet this challenge through a process of continuous analysis and improvement. The feedback from all the patients who have participated in the annual Patients’ Survey, responded to the Mjog text service and/or the recently published national GP Patient Survey is very valuable in assessing the standard of service the Practice delivers and in setting priorities for the year ahead.
The Practice has developed a number of initiatives in the past year to meet the challenges of the increased demand for services.
The addition of Training GPs, Nurse Practitioners, Health Care Assistants, a Clinical Pharmacist, additional Phlebotomy clinics, Extended Access Clinics (from September 2018) and the new Clinical Correspondence Team are adding to the capacity of SHCGP. Guiding patients to the most appropriate of these team members is a key objective for the coming year.
Studies have shown that approximately 25% of GP appointments could be dealt with by another healthcare professional. For example, prescription queries can be dealt with by the Clinical Pharmacist, Nurse Practitioners can provide treatment for minor illnesses and injuries, are able to write prescriptions and make referrals where appropriate.
By guiding patients to the most appropriate team members, or to self-care, may enable Doctors to use their time more effectively. This is a focus area for the coming year.