Over 2000 people responded to a primary care survey carried out by Healthwatch Isle of Wight between November 2017 and April 2018, it has been revealed.
The survey asked local people how easy it is for them to get an appointment at their GP surgery and what services they would like to be able to access at their local surgery in the future.
Although many people praised individual doctors and practice staff, there was a significant difference in the availability of appointments at different surgeries. 24% of people said that they have to wait over 2 weeks for an appointment and 28% of people have contacted 111 because they have been unable to get an appointment at their GP practice.
Some GP surgeries only offer ‘on the day’ appointments and many people stated that they cannot ring first thing in the morning due to work, childcare or other commitments.
When people do manage to ring the surgery later on in the morning, frequently, all the appointments are gone. The vast majority of people said that they would like to see blood testing clinics at their own surgery and there were many comments about the difficulties people face when getting a blood test.
A report on the results of the survey has been sent to the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group and they have been asked to respond to the 10 recommendations included within the report. These include the development of a local, mobile phlebotomy service and the need for the IOW CCG to provide a benchmark of expectations in terms of appointment waiting times to reduce current inequality.
Individual reports will also be sent to all GP surgeries along with a summary of their anonymised feedback.
A copy of the report can be found on the Healthwatch Isle of Wight website at https://www.healthwatchisleofwight.co.uk/sites/default/files/healthwatch_report_on_primary_care_survey_-_november_2018.pdf.
