GP Patient Survey

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The GP Patient Survey is an annual survey of patient experience of British general practice. It is one of the largest ever survey programmes of patients registered to receive primary health care. It is now sent out to over two million people across England. A similar survey is conducted in Wales. In Scotland, the Health & Care Experience Survey asks about people's experiences not only of accessing and using their GP practice and Out of Hours services, but also aspects of care and support provided by local authorities and other organisations and caring responsibilities and related support. It has been run every two years since 2009. [1] In Northern Ireland, the GP patient survey ran from 2008/09 to 2010/11. [2]

The results of the survey are published by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England on the GP Patient Survey publication website. [3] Results are available for individual practices and their results are compared to the national average and the local Clinical Commissioning Group.

The first survey was in 1998. The questionnaire has been repeatedly altered. From 2007 the survey has been conducted by a direct postal approach to a sample of patients. Earlier surveys were administered by practices. [4] The 2009 survey was sent to approximately 5,500,000 registered adult patients. [5] In 2021, invitations were sent by letter to a sample of people from each of more than 6800 practices. [6]

The survey has shown that the health of unpaid carers is significantly poorer than that of their non-carer peers. [7]

720,000 responses were received for the 2022 survey. The national response rate was 29.1%. The numbers reporting a good experience had fallen from 83% in 2021 to 72%. 55% of respondents had used an online service - an increase from 44% in 2021. Results are available at national, Integrated Care System, Primary Care Network or practice level. [8]

The GP Patient Survey website [9] has more detailed information for patients and survey results going back to 2007.

Related Research Articles

In the medical profession, a general practitioner (GP) or family physician is a physician who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education to patients of all ages. GPs' duties are not confined to specific fields of medicine, and they have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues. They are trained to treat patients to levels of complexity that vary between countries. The term "primary care physician" is more usually used in the US. In Asian countries like India, this term has been replaced mainly by Medical Officers, Registered Medical Practitioner etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health care</span> Prevention of disease and promotion of wellbeing

Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health professionals and allied health fields. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, midwifery, nursing, optometry, audiology, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, and other health professions all constitute health care. It includes work done in providing primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health informatics</span> Applications of information processing concepts and machinery in medicine

Health informatics is the field of science and engineering that aims at developing methods and technologies for the acquisition, processing, and study of patient data, which can come from different sources and modalities, such as electronic health records, diagnostic test results, medical scans. The health domain provides an extremely wide variety of problems that can be tackled using computational techniques.

General practice is the name given in various nations, such as the United Kingdom, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to the services provided by general practitioners. In some nations, such as the US, similar services may be described as family medicine or primary care. The term Primary Care in the UK may also include services provided by community pharmacy, optometrist, dental surgery and community hearing care providers. The balance of care between primary care and secondary care - which usually refers to hospital based services - varies from place to place, and with time. In many countries there are initiatives to move services out of hospitals into the community, in the expectation that this will save money and be more convenient.

Health care in Ireland is delivered through public and private healthcare. The public health care system is governed by the Health Act 2004, which established a new body to be responsible for providing health and personal social services to everyone living in Ireland – the Health Service Executive. The new national health service came into being officially on 1 January 2005; however the new structures are currently in the process of being established as the reform programme continues. In addition to the public-sector, there is also a large private healthcare market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family medicine</span> Medical specialty

Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is named a family physician. It is often referred to as general practice and a practitioner as a general practitioner. Historically, their role was once performed by any doctor with qualifications from a medical school and who works in the community. However, since the 1950s, family medicine / general practice has become a specialty in its own right, with specific training requirements tailored to each country. The names of the specialty emphasize its holistic nature and/or its roots in the family. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, focusing on disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the aim of family medicine is "promoting personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community". The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.

General medical services (GMS) is the range of healthcare that is provided by general practitioners as part of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. The NHS specifies what GPs, as independent contractors, are expected to do and provides funding for this work through arrangements known as the General Medical Services Contract. Today, the GMS contract is a UK-wide arrangement with minor differences negotiated by each of the four UK health departments. In 2013 60% of practices had a GMS contract as their principle contract. The contract has sub-sections and not all are compulsory. The other forms of contract are the Personal Medical Services or Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts. They are designed to encourage practices to offer services over and above the standard contract. Alternative Provider Medical Services contracts, unlike the other contracts, can be awarded to anyone, not just GPs, don't specify standard essential services, and are time limited. A new contract is issued each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS Wales</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in Wales

NHS Wales is the publicly-funded healthcare system in Wales, and one of the four systems which make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS Scotland</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in Scotland

NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, supported by seven special non-geographic health boards, and Public Health Scotland.

Health and Social Care (HSC) is the publicly funded healthcare system in Northern Ireland. Although having been created separately to the National Health Service (NHS), it is nonetheless considered a part of the overall national health service in the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland Executive through its Department of Health is responsible for its funding, while the Public Health Agency is the executive agency responsible for the provision of public health and social care services across Northern Ireland. It is free of charge to all citizens of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caregiver</span> Person helping another with activities of daily living

A caregiver, carer or support worker is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commonly assist with impairments related to old age, disability, a disease, or a mental disorder.

The medical home, also known as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), is a team-based health care delivery model led by a health care provider to provide comprehensive and continuous medical care to patients with a goal to obtain maximal health outcomes. It is described in the "Joint Principles" as "an approach to providing comprehensive primary care for children, youth and adults."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service (England)</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in England

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the Brazilian Sistema Único de Saúde. Primarily funded by the government from general taxation, and overseen by the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS provides healthcare to all legal English residents and residents from other regions of the UK, with most services free at the point of use for most people. The NHS also conducts research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

SystmOne is a centrally hosted clinical computer system developed by Horsforth-based The Phoenix Partnership (TPP). It is used by healthcare professionals in the UK predominantly in primary care. The system is being deployed as one of the accredited systems in the government's programme of modernising IT in the NHS.

Healthcare in England is mainly provided by the National Health Service (NHS), a public body that provides healthcare to all permanent residents in England, that is free at the point of use. The body is one of four forming the UK National Health Service as health is a devolved matter, there are differences with the provisions for healthcare elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and in England it is overseen by NHS England. Though the public system dominates healthcare provision in England, private health care and a wide variety of alternative and complementary treatments are available for those willing and able to pay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service</span> Publicly-funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom

The National Health Service (NHS) is the conglomerate name for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising NHS England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinical commissioning group</span>

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were National Health Service (NHS) organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in each of their local areas in England. On 1 July 2022 they were abolished and replaced by Integrated care systems as a result of the Health and Care Act 2022.

Out-of-hours services are the arrangements to provide access to healthcare at times when General Practitioner surgeries are closed; in the United Kingdom this is normally between 6.30pm and 8am, at weekends, at Bank Holidays and sometimes if the practice is closed for educational sessions.

EMIS Health, formerly known as Egton Medical Information Systems, supplies electronic patient record systems and software used in primary care, acute care and community pharmacy in the United Kingdom. The company is based in Leeds. It claims that more than half of GP practices across the UK use EMIS Health software and holds number one or two market positions in its main markets. In June 2022 the company was acquired by Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, an affiliate of UnitedHealth’s Optum business for a 49% premium on EMIS’s closing share price.

A Primary care network is a structure which brings general practitioners together on an area basis, possibly with other clinicians, to address chronic disease management and prevention. In 2022 the term is used in England, Singapore and Alberta.

References

  1. "Health and Care Experience Survey". Gov.Scot. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. "GP patient surveys". Health NI. Department of Health NI. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. "GP Patient Survey". Ipsos. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. Campbell, John; Smith, Patten; Nissen, Sonja; Bower, Peter; Elliott, Marc; Roland, Martin (22 August 2009). "The GP Patient Survey for use in primary care in the National Health Service in the UK – development and psychometric characteristics". BMC Family Practice. Vol. 10. doi:10.1186/1471-2296-10-57 . Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. "Using The GP Patient Survey To Improve Patient Care: A Guide For General Practices" (PDF). National Primary Care Research and Development Centre. November 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. "GP Patient Survey 2021". Riverside Medical Practice. 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  7. "Why support for unpaid carers matters". Health Service Journal. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  8. "2022 GP Patient Survey Results Released". Ipsos. 14 July 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  9. "GP Patient Survey". GP Patient Survey. Ipsos. Retrieved 14 April 2023.