| Comment from questionnaire |
Response from practice |
| A number of respondents have complained
about the use of an 0844 telephone number for which a "premium" payment
is charged |
The 0844 number is charged at a rate of 5pence (+vat)
per minute from ANYWHERE in the UK... this is less than the cost of a
slice of bread! We have used this facility as it allows us to add and
remove additional telephone lines without the need ever to change the
practice telephone number - something which results in less confusion
for patients. Patients should also consider that the costs to us
of phoning patients has increased considerably as more and more reliance
is made on mobile phones - which can cost us sometimes over a £1 a call
to contact patients about medical results etc. We believe that 5p
a minute is not a significant amount of money to pay ... appointments
can be made over the internet now which is less costly for those with
internet access. |
| A number of respondents have commented that the
waiting room is in need of modernisation to make it more attractive and
up to date |
Regrettably there is very little that we can do with
this room. Some 50000 people pass through this room every year for one
reason or another. The room has to be functional - ie to provide seating
for 20-25 people- as well as safe. Hygiene necessitates that plants are
not appropriate and that the chairs need to be easily cleaned. The
structure of the building requires a concrete and steel pillar to
support the block of flats placed at intervals through our surgery
premises. We keep the room clean, decorated and flooring regularly
renewed. Artificial plants are present to provide a little ambience!
If anyone has any realistic
suggestions about ways to change the room, then please do make the
suggestions - otherwise, regrettably we have no more ideas! |
| While the majority of respondents felt
that our opening hours were adequate (some were obviously still not
aware that we opened from 8am to 8pm!) a number suggested that an
occasional Saturday morning surgery would be helpful to those who worked
in London. |
We will introduce a periodic Saturday morning surgery
from September onwards. However this will only be pre-bookable by
telephone and booking will only be available to those who genuinely
cannot attend at other times. Acute medical problems arising at
weekends should continue to attend the out of hours service contracted
to South East Health. |
| We have now received an adequate
number of responses to our questionnaire (16th August 2008) to enable us
to analyse the "scores". We will publish the results by a link from this
page in the next week or so. |
Our thanks to everyone who made the effort to
complete our questionnaire |
| A very few respondents have stated that
they do not have confidence in the practitioner with whom they are
registered or with other practitioners in the practice. |
While all patients have a "nominal" practitioner with
whom they are officially registered, patients are welcome to see any of
the other practitioners - we have two female doctors (Dr Wilson and Dr
Preuveneers) and three male doctors (Dr Higson, Williamson and Jani). We
also have three female nurses who have specific skills. If you are
not satisfied with the care or service provided by one practitioner, you
are welcome to attend any of the others - however not all practitioners
work every day of the week, although there are usually at least two
different practitioners working every day.
For those (few) patients who obviously are not
satisfied with the personality of the doctors or their perception of the
care that they have received from us the sensible option would be to
register with another practice as caring for your health does require
confidence in the practitioner offering you that care. To register with
another practice, you need to contact that practice. At the time of
writing ALL practices in HOVE are officially accepting new
registrations. Information on practices in the area can be obtained from
www.nhs.uk |
| A few respondents have requested a clock
in the waiting room |
This has been installed! |
| The practice questionnaire indicated
lesser satisfaction with the duration of waiting to be called in to see
the Doctor. |
We have analysed waiting times after the appointment
time and have found considerable variation between practitioners.
Information has been fed back to the practitioners in the hope that they
can improve the situation. We will keep an eye on it. |
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