Survey shows people on Fylde Coast have ‘good’ experience of GP practice

People living on the Fylde Coast have reported a ‘good’ experience of their GP surgery in an annual survey.

Of the 4,346 people who responded to the annual GP Patient Survey, about 85 per cent said they were happy with their practice, placing the area above the national average.

More than nine in 10 said they found the receptionist at their practice helpful, 82 per cent found their practice’s website easy to use and almost 90 per cent said healthcare professionals understood mental health needs where they existed.

The awareness of the availability of online services has also increased, more people have booked appointments, ordered repeat prescriptions and viewed their medical records via the internet.

However, 72 per cent of people said they hadn’t used any online services in the past 12 months, although this was an improvement on last year.

Dr Amanda Doyle OBE, chief clinical officer for NHS Fylde and Wyre and NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), said: “People continue to report a generally high level of satisfaction with the family doctor services they have received in Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre.

“This is testament to the hard work that goes on in surgeries all over the Fylde Coast, from all the practice teams.

“However there are areas where people have said they are not completely satisfied, such as how long it can take to receive care when GP practices are closed and support for people with long-term conditions, and we will work with our colleagues to make improvements.”

The GP Patient Survey reflects on people’s experience of healthcare services provided by GP surgeries, including access to GPs, making appointments, the quality of care received from GPs and practice nurses, ease of use of online services and satisfaction of out-of-hours NHS services.

The survey is run independently by Ipsos Mori and sent to more than a million people at random across the UK. On the Fylde Coast, 37 per cent of the 11,861 surveys sent out were returned.

Other key findings of the survey included more than seven in 10 said it was very or fairly easy to get through to someone at their GP surgery on the phone, 70 per cent also rated the overall experience of making an appointment as good and nine in 10 said their healthcare professional was good at listening to them.