Frequently Asked Questions - About the Survey
Why is this survey taking place?
The GP Patient Survey is part of the Government’s commitment to make the NHS more responsive to patients’ needs. The survey asks 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.
The Department of Health has set some standards for how easy it should be for people to book an appointment with their doctor. The survey measures how well GP surgeries are meeting these standards and can help surgeries and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) 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?
The survey is part of the Department of Health’s commitment to make the NHS more responsive to patients’ needs, and will give them a better picture of people’s experiences of their local NHS services. Ipsos MORI, an independent survey agency, is administering the survey on behalf of the Department of Health.
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 1.4 million adult patients registered with a GP in England have been selected for this wave of the quarterly GP Patient Survey.
Why is this survey happening again?
As well as monitoring and supporting progress in improving services, Primary Care Trusts need the results of these quarterly surveys so that they can calculate the level of payment to make to GP practices on an annual basis.
Even if you completed a questionnaire previously 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?
About 1.4 million adult patients registered with a GP in England are randomly selected for each quarterly GP Patient Survey, so that by January 2011 around 5.7 million different patients in England will have been sent the questionnaire. The current questionnaire was sent out in early July 2010.
Where are the results of the previous surveys?
The results of the 2009/10 GP Patient Survey run between April 2009 and March 2010 have been published and are available online - please click here.
To view the results of the GP Patient Survey for 2007 and 2008, please click here, or visit the results page of this website.
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 the Department of Health.
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.
You may also wish to talk to the local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) which has been established in every NHS Trust and Primary Care Trust (PCT) organisation.
You can find out which Primary Care Trust area you live in by going to this website address:
http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/PrimaryCareTrustListing.aspx
- or by contacting your GP surgery or health centre.
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.
