Stamford GP 'improving' after voted one of the worst for patient satisfaction in the country
Just 3% find it easy to get through to the practice by phone
Last updated 28th Jul 2023
The NHS Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board {ICB} says it's ensuring a GP surgery in Stamford "continues to improve" after it was found to be fourth worst in the country for patient satisfaction.
Lakeside Healthcare in Stamford has some of the worst results for patient satisfaction following the GP Patient survey.
135 people sent in surveys, which shows how people feel about their local practice.
It's an independent survey run by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England, sent out to over two million people across the UK
Just 3% of respondents said they find it easy to get through to this GP practice by phone, compared to 50% nationally.
25% of respondents describe their overall experience of this GP practice as good, compared to a 71% national average.
And just 19% of respondents describe their experience of making an appointment as good, against 54% nationally.
However, most people did seem happy with their experience of receiving medical treatment, once they were able to book appointments.
Nearly all (86%) say the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at listening to them during their last general practice appointment.
63% of respondents say they have had enough support from local services or organisations in the last 12 months to help manage their long-term condition(s), compared to 65% nationally.
A spokesperson for the NHS Lincolnshire ICB said: "Lakeside Healthcare Stamford have made good progress to address a number of challenges over recent months, and alongside the ICB are committed to ensuring patient care and experience continues to improve.
"Significant resource and expertise from within the ICB has been mobilised to ensure the practice is able to build on recent improvements and provide high quality care for all patients."
Dr Gavin Cattigan, Non-Executive Director at Lakeside Healthcare, said: "We conducted our own survey earlier this year, we have already introduced changes, including reintroducing pre-bookable appointment slots and a team working system so a duty doctor and nurse are located in close proximity to the front desk so any queries can be quickly dealt with.
"The National GP Survey was collated between January and April, and the changes we have made began from the beginning of May, so unfortunately this will not be reflected yet in the national survey.’
"We have developed a new guide for our reception team with care pathways developed in line with the Accelerate programme and are reviewing the lengths of appointments with a view to increasing them from ten to 15 minutes to allow more capacity to deal with more complex cases.
"We have an effective and involved Patient Participation Group who represent our patients’ views and practice management attend their regular meetings to respond to queries or concerns.
"I can understand that there is still a lot of frustration within the people of Stamford, and despite the positive changes we have made, we still need time to embed these, and we will continue to make further steps moving forward."