focused Southam GP surgery shortlisted for award

Patient-focused GP surgery shortlisted for award A Warwickshire GP surgery shortlisted for a national award has said it works hard to put patients first.

St Wulfstan Surgery in Southam has prioritised cutting waiting times by operating out of hours and training reception staff to point patients towards appropriate care.

It is in the running to be named Primary and Community Care Provider of the Year at the Health Service Journal awards in November.

"Our aspiration is that we can deliver appointments to patients on the day that they need them," said GP Partner Dr Faris Al-Ramadani.

"If a patient wants to book within three days we also try and make that available," he added.

According to NHS statistics , 31.7m primary care appointments were recorded across the NHS in England in July

About 43.9% of them took place on the same day they were booked

Nationally, about 9.5m patients had to wait more than eight days from the time they booked to their practice appointments taking place.

St Wulfstan Surgery, which has about 11,000 registered patients, said it developed its patient-focused approach with the help of a panel made up of patients and staff.

"Appointment availability is high on everyone's list so that's something that we work hard to deliver," Dr Al-Ramadani said.

"We employ a lot of doctors and staff but we are also a very efficient practice."

Practice manager Lindsay Ward said patients were given the choice of booking online or face-to-face appointments and can also get through on the phone.

Receptionist staff have been trained to help steer patients towards appropriate services, she explained.

"Sometimes a GP is not the most appropriate person for an appointment and our care navigators are able to steer patients through that system," she said.

In addition, surgeries are available between 07:00 and 20:00 BST on Mondays and on selected Saturdays.

A new quality and patient experience lead has also been employed.

The practice next plans to start a podcast to help better inform patients when they need to see a doctor.

The HSJ awards take place on 21 November.

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