Agenda item

At the meeting of the Health Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 16^th February 2011, members requested a follow up report on GP services in Brent, which would cover the following indicators from the GP Outcome Standards: satisfaction with overall care received at surgery; patients changing practice without changing address; ability to see a specific GP or practice nurse if wanted; advanced appointments; satisfaction with opening hours; ease of getting through on the phone

Jo Ohlson (Brent Borough Director, NHS Brent and Harrow) introduced the report on access to GP services in Brent which was a follow up to that considered in February 2011. She referred to the report from NHS Brent which indicated that the patient satisfaction with access was relatively poor in comparison to London and nationally. An intensive programme of support had been introduced, (the Access, Choice and Experience (ACE) Programme), in all Brent practices to improve overall care.  It was hoped that by quarter four there would be evidence of a positive impact. On appointments, most practices did not show evidence of having given consideration to adjusting capacity at times of high demand but there was evidence of improvements in advance booking, supported with text reminders. Some practices had also introduced measures to improve telephone access to surgeries through additional phone lines and more staff. Progress had yet to be made in patients’ ability to see their preferred GP. Opening hours had increased and there had been a high uptake of extended hours, particularly in the Wembley area. It was noted that performance in some geographical areas was better than others and it was hoped that improvements would come about through GP consortia and peer review.

Members questioned the relatively low performance of particular practices in Kingsbury and Willesden and were advised that one had previously been a stand-alone practice while the other had now taken on board the results and had developed an action plan. It was hoped that data sharing and being open to changes would bring about improvements. Information on practice performance was available for patients in publications such as NHS Choices. There was little correlation between the number of GPs in a practice and satisfaction levels however, the number of telephone lines and availability of reception staff did impact on patient experience and this was relatively easy to address. Additionally, there would be more difficulties if plans were not in place for busy or holiday periods. Other methods of assessing satisfaction included participation groups used by some practices to get patients’ views. Quarterly monitoring continued. It was noted that the results from all 71 practices would be reported to the next meeting. Information on changing GPs without changing address was available and would be provided to the Policy Team.

Patients’ ability to see a preferred doctor was accepted as an issue of concern. It was noted that some are likely to become even less available as GPs became more specialised or become involved in commissioning. The committee also noted the view that key to success was a good practice manager and good team working. On practice managers, Ms Ohlson stated that the new consortia arrangements would put certain requirements in place and the NHS would recommend systems and processes for good practice management. Members raised questions on the recruitment processes in place and whether these could be more transparent to which Ms Ohlson responded that practices were independent and often family businesses. Practice managers were not NHS employees and as such PCTscould not monitor recruitment practices nor insist on training or particular skills sets.

Members were pleased to note that the Access, Choice and Experience Programme had the support of GP leaders. London’s NHS outcome framework was due to be published on 1 April 2011.

RESOLVED:-

that the NHS Brent report on GP standards and the work being to improve access to services and patient satisfaction be noted.