Patient Survey - Feedback

Thank you for taking part in our recent patient satisfaction survey – it’s so important to know what you think and we hope you feel that you have been heard.  There were so many positive comments which we really appreciate.  It’s great to know we get a lot right and the vast majority of patients who took part are happy with what we do.  Your appreciation for the great job our team do is particularly important, with an average rating score of 8.92/10, making us feel very positive at this challenging time for those working in healthcare.  We believe we have the most fantastic group of patients and your support makes such a difference

We are always striving to do our best so where this has fallen short or missed the mark we aim to do better.  We have taken on board all comments.   Where your responses show we could do better we are discussing them internally to see what we can do. 

A number of comments were noted around availability of appointments and waiting times so we thought sharing some of the operating processes around the practice might offer helpful context:

• We publish data every month in accordance with Welsh Government requirements that shows how we are dealing with the volume of calls etc.  You can find this on our website The Wye Valley Practice - Activity Dashboard - Wye Valley Practice (nhs.wales)

• Wait times to see a GP are currently ~3 weeks for non-urgent matters

• We have taken on a new salaried GP to help offer more appointments and to support with cover

• An empty waiting room doesn’t mean doctors or nurses aren’t dealing with other patients – via phone calls, via incoming messages, mail etc.  A large part of what happens in  a clinicians day takes place away from face to face patient contact and it can be difficult to demonstrate this.  But please know, our GPs and clinicians are always busy, often working well past surgery opening hours to make sure our patients are well looked after

• We are now back to pre-Covid levels of face to face appointments.  Our clinicians all welcome seeing patients in the surgery.  We do still offer patients the option of a telephone appointment as sometimes that is their preference and is a good option if an examination not required

• We are still dealing with Covid circulating which does affect our own team from time to time – when this happens we do our best to organise cover, with the team working extra hours where they can, but it isn’t always possible

• Sometimes we need to operate a triage system, where we need to review every request that comes in and assess it’s clinical urgency.  Where this happens (and it is uncommon) we do sometimes need to move less urgent matters. Please know that every member of the team dislikes having to do this, but it is necessary to ensure we deal with the most urgent or unwell

• We have increased our admin support to assist with managing incoming enquiries, reception cover and back room administration

• We have kept our commitment to deal with medication requests in 48 hours – we are aware of other practices in the area who have extended this to 5 or even 10 days

• If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service we do urge you to get in touch – we are always looking to see how we can improve and so welcome constructive feedback.  Our team like to know when they’re doing a good job and we pride ourselves on this – if you feel we could do better, please tell us.  You can find out how to get in touch via our website Practice Details - Wye Valley Practice (nhs.wales)

Chest pain at any time of day is ALWAYS a red flag (serious) symptom and should never wait for a GP appointment.  This is a health concern that requires urgent care via A & E. They have the best equipment for testing, assessing and treating patients urgently.