What do Londoners think of their general practice?

King's Fund; Jenkins, Clare; Malbon, Gill; Gillam, Steve

Published Work

What do Londoners think of their general practice?

Public Deposited

Author

Place of publication

London

Publisher

King's Fund

Publication date

1999

Pages

Series

King's Fund primary care programme series

Abstract

This publication is a summary of the full report of the same name. The1990s has seen fundamental changes in the field of primary care. Amidst the recent flood of white papers and ministerial announcements, the King's Fund and the Evening Standard set out to find what Londoners think of the 'New NHS'. In an NOP poll, a sample of Londoners were asked a range of questions aimed at assessing their level of satisfaction with the service provided by their general practice and their knowledge of recent changes in the health service. The majority of Londoners interviewed were very satisfied with the service they received from their general practice. Older people expressed more satisfaction than younger people, and there were no significant differences in reported satisfaction between respondents from different socioeconomic groups. However positive the results of this survey, many Londoners still see scope for improvement. Almost one in six patients had felt like complaining about their general practitioner, although less than three per cent had done so. Most patients said they had not been consulted about changes to their local surgery and its relationship to the National Health Service. One in five had heard of primary care groups (PCGs), but fewer than one in ten knew anything about them. Four out of five Londoners thought that the quality of care provided at their local surgery had either improved or stayed the same over the last few years. Just one in 20 patients felt that there had been a lowering of standards over the same timescale.

Note