- We are contracted by NHS Swindon to deliver primary care services to patients who live in SN1 and parts of SN2 and SN3; we also provide walk-in treatment for minor illnesses and injuries to people throughout Swindon and we offer a limited number of planned appointments to people registered with other GP practices.
- In order to know how we are doing we carry out a survey every month and ask 100 attenders how they rate our services. Over the last 12 months our average rating has been 89% of people telling us our services are "good" (33%): "very good" (33%): or "excellent" (23%). We read the free text comments with particular interest as these give us insight into the issues that please or displease users of our services. We use a separate company to collate our survey results, so that we know the results are impartial and nobody needs to feel uncomfortable in giving a frank opinion of their experience here.
- Our patient population is made up of a high percentage of ethnic minorities, for many of whom English is not their first language. We also provide services to registered homeless people in Swindon. Many in these hard to reach groups are not equipped to participate in traditional patient groups, which would restrict their value and effectiveness. For this reason we devised an outreach participation structure designed to capture views of all patients who use Carfax NHS Medical Centre.
- We have a group of stakeholders who meet 4 times each year with the clinical managers and service managers who are responsible overall for the Centre. Representatives from a range of statutory and voluntary organisations working with particular communities are invited to participate as stakeholders.
- In addition, we commissioned Swindon LINk to carry out focus group work with particular groups such as BME users, older people and homeless people, to equalise the participation of patients across the range of communities. Feedback from meetings of the focus groups was then discussed within the Stakeholder Advisory Group.
- We have also welcomed an approach from the Young Inspectors, a group representing young adults, who visited the Centre and observed waiting areas and spoke to staff. They presented a full written report of their observations and recommendations, some but not all of which we have implemented. We have responded to their report, explaining which items we have adopted and which we have not, with reasons. Their report was also discussed in the Stakeholder Advisory Group meetings.
- The Young Inspectors report formed the main thrust of our first action plan as it focussed on some tangible changes to make the experience of visiting as a young patient more pleasant. We have begun to dedicate a space within the waiting area to younger children, with age appropriate decoration and seating. We have purchased a television to show children's Freeview channels. We believe this will distract children attending the Centre, whether as patients or as siblings of a patient. As a by-product, it will also relieve adult patients of the hubbub of noisy children in the main waiting area.
- We have responded to requests for more and clearer information about the complex range of services that we provide by publishing a suite of information sheets to expand on the practice leaflet and website. These break down to topic areas such as
- Repeat prescriptions
- Location
- How to register
- Travel vaccinations
- Comments, compliment and complaints
- How to contact us
- Carfax NHS Medical Centre is contracted to provide services for at least 12 hours daily throughout the year and this information is displayed on all our literature and on our website.
Managing Director
March 2012
