Devon Patients have had their say on local practices

Over 2.7 million people took part in this year’s GP Patient Survey, which finds out how people feel about their GP practice.

Nationally the majority of people seem happy with the service offered, with 75% rating the overall experience as either ”very good” or “fairly good”. Only 7% said “fairly poor” and 5% said “very poor”.

Key Findings for Devon

Contacting GP Practice:

• Contacting by Phone: Devon's patients find it slightly easier to contact their GP practice by phone, with 57% rating it as "Easy" compared to 53% nationally.
• Contacting by Website: Patients in Devon have a notably better experience with GP practice websites. 58% found it easy to contact their practice this way, a significant 7 percentage points higher than the national average of 51%.
• Contacting via NHS App: Devon's patients have a similar experience to the national average, with 50% finding it easy compared to 49% nationally.
• Methods of Contact: When contacting their GP practice, a larger percentage of Devon patients used the practice's website (21%) compared to the national average (14%). Conversely, a smaller percentage of Devon patients phoned the practice (58%) compared to the national average (62%).

Appointment Experience:

• Helpfulness of Staff: Devon's reception and administrative teams are perceived as more helpful than the national average. 87% of Devon patients found them "Helpful," a 4 percentage point difference from the national figure of 83%.
• Seeing a Preferred Professional: The data shows no difference between Devon and the national average for patients having a preferred healthcare professional (32%) and being able to see them often (48% for Devon vs 40% nationally). This is a positive outcome for Devon.
• Appointment Wait Times: Devon patients generally wait longer for an appointment.
  • 22% of Devon patients had an appointment on the same day, compared to 28% nationally.
  • 17% of Devon patients waited more than two weeks, compared to 13% nationally.
• Type of Appointment: Devon has a higher percentage of remote appointments (30%) than the national average (28%). As a result, face-to-face appointments are less common in Devon (70%) than they are nationally (72%).
• Overall Experience: Devon patients report a more positive overall experience, with 79% describing their experience as "Good" compared to 75% nationally. The percentage of "Poor" experiences in Devon is also lower (10%) than the national average (12%).

Healthcare Professional Interaction:

• Listening and Concern: Devon patients rate their healthcare professionals higher on listening (89% vs 87% nationally) and treating with care and concern (88% vs 86% nationally).
• Mental Wellbeing: Devon professionals are rated as being slightly better at considering mental wellbeing (76% vs 74% nationally).
• Trust and Confidence: Confidence and trust in healthcare professionals are high in both Devon and nationally, with no significant difference (93% for both).
• Involvement in Decisions: Devon patients feel more involved in decisions about their care and treatment (93%) than the national average (91%).

In summary, patients in Devon generally report a more positive overall experience with their GP practice, with higher satisfaction ratings for staff helpfulness, professional care, and patient involvement. However, they are more likely to have a remote appointment and wait longer for their appointment than the national average.