Frequently Asked Questions - About the Survey
Why is this survey taking place?
The GP Patient Survey has been designed to give patients the opportunity to comment on their experience of their GP practice. The survey asks about your experiences of your local GP surgery and other local NHS services, and includes questions about your general health. The survey will ask patients about a range of issues, such as how easy or difficult it is for patients to make an appointment at their surgery, satisfaction with opening hours, the quality of care received from their GP and practice nurses, amongst other things.
Replies to the survey will measure patient experience and will therefore help surgeries to understand where improvements are needed. This survey is an opportunity for patients to have their say about how well their practice is doing at providing these services to patients.
Who is this actually from?
Ipsos MORI, an independent survey agency, is administering the survey on behalf of NHS England.
Why was I sent a questionnaire?
You have been sent a questionnaire because you were randomly selected from adult patients registered with a GP in England. About 1.36 million adult patients registered with a GP in England have been selected for this wave of the GP Patient Survey.
Why is this survey happening again?
The GP Patient Survey continues to provide a means for patients to feedback their experiences and preferences in respect of the care and services provided by their GP practice.
Even if you completed a questionnaire last year it is important to hear about your more recent experiences, and this year we have also included more questions about the issues that concern patients.
How many questionnaires will you be sending out?
Every 6 months, around 1.36 million questionnaires are sent out to adult patients, randomly selected from all patients registered with a GP in England. This means that each year around 2.7 million different patients in England are sent the questionnaire.
Who designed the questionnaire?
The core of this questionnaire was developed by Ipsos MORI in conjunction with the University of Exeter Medical School and the General Practice and Primary Care Research Unit at the University of Cambridge.
Where are the results of the previous surveys?
The results of the 2012 GP Patient Survey run between January and September 2012 have now been published and are available online, along with results from 2009, 2010 and 2011 - please click here. The results of surveys run in 2007 and 2008 can be accessed on the Department of Health’s website, here.
You are asking about a range of issues, such as how easy or difficult it is for patients to make an appointment at their surgery, satisfaction with opening hours, the quality of care received from their GP and practice nurses, amongst other things. How can I tell you or complain about other aspects of my GP’s service?
Ipsos MORI cannot help you with any other comment or complaint you may have about your doctor, nurse or GP practice. Ipsos MORI is only administering The GP Patient Survey on behalf of NHS England.
If you want to make a comment or complain about the service or care provided by your doctor or doctor’s surgery, you will need, in the first place, to contact the practice. If you have a complaint, each practice has a member of staff responsible for the practice complaints procedure and he/she will try to resolve the matter with you.
What happens if I have received another questionnaire that asks similar questions?
There may be other surveys asking about similar things, but they are not directly related to the GP Patient Survey as each survey is likely to be looking at different aspects of healthcare. It may also be that different methods were used to select people to take part, so we would still be grateful if you could take the time to fill this one in and return it to us.
