You Said, We Did – Improving Access to Primary Care

In order to meet the different need and requirements of people in Tameside and Glossop, Tameside & Glossop CCG wanted to make sure that people were offered a range of alternative ways to see their GP/Doctor/other healthcare professionals. We want to ensure that local people are given as much choice as possible to access healthcare.  Through an online survey and engagement workshops, we asked what patients registered with a GP surgery in Tameside and Glossop thought of the alternative ways to accessing primary care services.

In total, 113 responses were received to the survey.  72% of respondents had needed an appointment at their GP surgery during the pandemic – 75% of these respondents had used a telephone appointment, with 30% having a face-to-face appointment.  A majority of respondents (61%) rated their experience as being “good” or “very good”.  Most respondents were aware of (73%), and used (63%), online services that their GP surgery offered.

An additional area of discussion that arose during engagement workshops was in relation to informing our population around the use of their personal data to inform direct health care. 

Based on the feedback from those who participated in the engagement activities, we undertook further engagement with NHS England to ask for support for our practices to make sure digital solutions were built into the access process, and also to ensure digital access was not the only route into primary care providing inclusive accessibility for everyone.

We have also commissioned digital inclusion projects to support local people who wish to access health services digitally – these projects focus on supporting overall wellbeing, as well as health.  For example, through these projects we have looked to secure internet services to support certain areas of our population who may struggle to fund internet access within their homes. 

Working alongside colleagues from across Greater Manchester, we have supported the development of a communications campaign that provides information about the use of personal data in informing direct care.  The campaign is set to be launched in summer 2021.