ACCURACY OF RATING GENRAL PRACTICES QUESTIONABLE
ACCURACY OF RATING GENRAL PRACTICES QUESTIONABLE
Doctors’ leaders have claimed that the new ratings for general practices that were launched in England this week will not paint an accurate picture of the quality of services provided.
The Government through The Department of Health has launched a comparison service of general practices on 14 October. The website is the NHS’s main information website, NHS Choices. This sites will add patient comments about their experience of their practice as well as read other people’s comments on the website, under its "Find and choose services" section. The department is keen that patients see information about practices before choosing the one that they wish to attend.
The new tool, similar to a hospital comparison service launched on NHS Choices in August, will make it easier to find information such as opening times and additional facilities offered at all of England’s 8269 general practices.
It will also offer other people’s comments about:
• How easy it is to get an appointment
• How highly they would recommend the practice
• How well staff treat patients
• Whether patients feel that they are involved in care decisions.
The health minister Mike O’Brien said, "As we open up real choice in primary care, it is vital we equip patients with enough information to make the right choice for them. This new tool allows every single GP practice in the country to see the patient’s view on what they are doing well and what needs to be improved. It will help drive up quality across the board."
The BMA said that although doctors support access for patients to the best possible data about their practice, it has concerns that patients would not get an accurate picture of the quality of practices. The department has responded to the BMA’s initial concerns and given assurances that feedback on the website will be independently monitored, and any abuse, including naming of staff, will not be posted.
The whole approach, however, is not the best way to deliver patient feedback, said Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee. "GPs have been getting feedback, through inviting comments from patients and via surveys or patient participation groups for years, and we always welcome any scheme that supports constructive criticism and feedback," said Dr Buckman. However, feedback on the website will tend to come from a "self selected population motivated to post feedback," he said. "Unless a significant number of comments are generated—good or bad—it will be impossible to build up a reliable and accurate picture of the practice and its quality. Our highest users, the elderly and the long term sick, who are arguably in the best position to give useful feedback to other patients, are the least likely to post comments, as research shows they have the lowest rate of accessibility to the internet."
Written by Dr Martin Harris, Doctor and Mohel for Jewish Circumcision Clinic in London Bris Mila Brit Milah.
www.circumcisionlondon.co.uk
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