What we are doing?
We have partnered up with teams from the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) and are carrying out a piece of work that will look at identifying those issues patients are facing when accessing their GP. The work has several phases to it and as a Healthwatch we will begin by supporting the initial phase of the work that will involve patient engagement. We will do this via a dedicated survey which will run for 8 weeks during August-September 2022)
We will also be holding conversations with 10 GP practices across the city (two form each locality) to explore what practices feel are the current barriers.
Findings from these two pieces of research we will then be shared with ICB for consideration.
Coming together with the ICB we will then consider the full findings and support the final research stage which will be determined by the outcomes found.
What we want to achieve
Over the pandemic NHS healthcare staff needed to use different ways to provide clinical consultations to ensure patients still received the healthcare they needed, which included the addition of telephone, online or video consultation.
Building on the research that has already taken place in 2020 around these changes, this work will help to identify any gaps in the exhibiting research and the barriers patients experiences when accessing their GP services.
How you can get involved?
Patients who use a Sunderland based GP practice can support the work by completing the survey and share their views on their experiences of accessing their GP.