The National Association for Patient Participation (NAPP) argues that services will only meet local needs if patients are consulted. It notes that there is no requirement for either doctors or PCTs to consult patients before launching new services.
‘Different individuals and groups have different needs. There is no one-size-fits-all solution,' says the NAPP's chief executive, Dr Graham Box.
‘We urge GP practices and PCTs to make sure that there is a proper dialogue with patients at the local level and to facilitate new patient participation groups in those areas where they do not yet exist.'
DoH guidance on extended hours suggests using patient surveys as a guideline when deciding when to offer extended hours services. But practices are not required to consult patients directly.
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Comments
Chris Perks
09/05/2008
If one believes HMG these changes were foreced through precisely BECAUSE the public wanted them. GPs will jump through the imposed hoops, but we aren't going to go out of our way to create more of them.
Graham Brown
09/05/2008
Typically the annual patient survey reveealed that 84% of our patients were happy with existing hours.The other 14% won't all want the same "extended hours", so patient utopia will never be achieved until we are all open 24/7.Strangely we did consult our own PPG and they said they didn't want any additional hours, so what do we do now?
Lindy Williams
09/05/2008
One of the problems with consultations exercises initiated by HMG, DoH and PCTs is that they are usually carried out by firms whose duty is to the client and to get the required results. The consultation on services for London was an example. It was done by Ipsos-Mori, whose website declares,
"...... No matter what the area, we have a range of different and imaginative techniques and methods to make sure each project is precisely designed to fulfill client needs". What is needed is surveys which are independent of those in power. This is something I intend to pursue and I would be pleased to hear from anyone who might be interested in such a venture.
Mohammed Ayub
12/05/2008
84% of our practice population were happy with the surgery hours we provide. Of those that were not happy, only 9% i.e 1.44% of the total suggested saturday surgeries. According to the DoH, we should therefore work on saturdays -Why?! - and they are running the country!
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