Update for Staveley surgery patients

The Holywell Medical Group will hold a patient update meeting on Thursday, August 14, from 7.30pm to 9pm following concerns raised about its Rectory Road surgery in Staveley and other issues regarding the group.

Communication has been cited as the biggest issue with patients facing difficulties in contacting the surgery to make appointments. To resolve this, a new phone system is due to be in place by November. Patients will be invited at the meeting to indicate whether they would like to be part of a small group that will be involved in the service provider selection and evaluation process.

Computer systems at the surgeries are also being upgraded with improved hardware and software to make the online booking system faster.

Another barrier has been the difficulty in recruiting new GPs and nurses. Holywell Medical Group senior partner Dr Nadine Kale said: “GPs who train in an area are more likely to stay. However Chesterfield and Staveley is now part of the Nottingham GP training scheme rather than Sheffield so is on the geographical periphery and therefore not an area of choice for GPs looking for a practice in which to train. ”

“This is a practical change that could be made and we are asking NHS England and the local MPs for their support to address this specific issue at a national level.

“In the meantime we have drawn up a recruitment strategy both for GPs and nurses – and plans are already in place to become a centre for nurse training.”

HMG has also invested heavily in customer service training for staff and plans are underway to increase flexibility of staff to improve front line services eg: receptionists trained to take blood so that patients do not have to re-book appointments with phlebotomy clinic

The meeting will hear that, in a recent survey by the Patient Participation Group – 86% of patients were satisfied with the care that they receive at HMG surgeries.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection report, published in May, also highlighted that significant improvements had already been made.

These include:

- Additional appointments are now available for patients and changes to the booking system mean that 40% of appointments were now pre-bookable either online or by telephone.

- Staff are more visible through the introduction of staff name badges and displays of staff working at the practice that day

* Separate rooms have been introduced for reception staff to speak in private to patients

- There is a structured use of the chaperone service

- Communications with patients have been improved with suggestion boxes and newsletters

- There are more structured staff appraisals

- Service level improvements include the further development of the home delivery service

The meeting will also be an opportunity for patients to ask questions of the panel which will include GPs at the practice, representatives of the Patient Participation Group and NHS England.