‘What matters most: support people want from general practices in Birmingham’ investigates what people with a range of conditions want when they visit their general practice. These included people living with mental health problems, autism, dementia and brain injury.

28/05/2019
By Healthwatch Birmingham
Investigations

We heard from 122 patients and carers across the city. They told us they value:

  • being able to make appointments quickly and easily, particularly when in crisis
  • stability of the service and continuity of care
  • high quality, integrated whole-person care
  • dignity and respect
  • receiving swift and straightforward referrals to specialist and community services
  • access to high-quality care, where the GP has knowledge and understanding of their condition
  • appropriate awareness and knowledge of their condition by the wider general practice staff

Our recommendations to Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs):

To help patients and carers overcome these issues, Healthwatch Birmingham recommends
that CCGs produce high-quality patient information leaflets or cards. Underpinned by national guidelines on best practice and current national and local policy, the leaflets should assure patients that it is their right to:

  • make appointments quickly and easily, particularly when in crisis
  • have stability of the service and continuity of care
  • obtain high quality, integrated whole-person care
  • be treated with dignity and respect
  • receive swift and straightforward referrals to specialist and community services
  • access high-quality care, where the GP has knowledge and understanding of their condition
  • be treated by health professionals who have appropriate awareness and knowledge of
    their condition

The leaflet/cards should also explain to patients and carers what actions they could and should
take if they feel that their general practice is not meeting one or more of these rights.


What matters most: support people want from general practices in Birmingham Download File (pdf 1.35 MB)

Local people are at the heart of everything we do. The CCG’s aim to improve the health and wellbeing of local people requires us to understand, and can act on, what really matters to them; this report will really help us to work with our GP practices and further improve services to patients. We look forward to working with Healthwatch Birmingham, patients and other local organisations on delivering the practical and helpful recommendations highlighted in the report. - Karen Helliwell, Director of Integration at NHS Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group