The Patients Association

Patient Participation Group Information & Support Pack can be found here.

National Association of Patient Participation – Building Better Participation

NHS England commissioned N.A.P.P. – the national voice for patient participation in primary care – to develop building better participation, and it is available to download here.

Healthwatch Swindon and NHS England

Patient Participation Groups: Improving the experiences of Patients and Carers – A framework to facilitate the use of patient and carer is available here

 

Experiences to improve the quality of services in GP Practice

NHS Choices

NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk) was launched in 2007 and is the official website of the National Health Service in England with over 48 million visits per month.

NHS Choices provides comprehensive health information service with thousands of articles, videos and tools, helping visitors to make the best choices about health and lifestyle, but also to make the most of NHS and social care services in England.

On line service directories let visitors find, choose and compare health, support and social care services in England. NHS Choices also publishes reviews and ratings across health and social care services, including GP practices. An example can be found here

GP Patient Survey

The GP Patient Survey is an independent survey run by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England. The survey is sent out to over a million people across the UK. The results show how people feel about their GP practice. An example of this can be found here.

GP Friends and Family Test (FFT)

The Friends and Family Test (FFT) is an important feedback tool that supports the fundamental principle that people who use NHS services should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience. It asks people if they would recommend the services they have used and offers a range of responses. When combined with supplementary follow-up questions, the FFT provides a mechanism to highlight both good and poor patient experience. Since it was initially launched in April 2013, the FFT has been rolled out in phases to most NHS-funded services in England, including GP practices, giving all patients the opportunity to leave feedback on their care and treatment.

The real strength of the FFT lies in the follow up questions that can be attached to the initial question. These are a rich source of patient feedback that can be used locally to highlight and address concerns much faster than more traditional survey methods. The results can be used by practices to track progress over time. An example of this can be found here.

FFT Requirements for GP practices

There are three key requirements of GP practices set out in the guidance:

1.to make the opportunity to provide feedback through the FFT available to all patients at any time;

2.to submit FFT data to the NHS England analytical team via the Calculating Quality Reporting Service (CQRS) each month; and

3.publish the data locally.

Practices are allowed to use a collection methodology that suits their local circumstances. Patients do not need to be asked to answer the FFT question after every appointment or contact with the practice, but they should be made aware that the opportunity to provide feedback is available.