Local health services
Primary care health professionals, including GPs, nurses and midwives, and dentists provide the majority of healthcare for people in the local community. Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for making sure that people in their area have access to these and other local healthcare services.
Understanding what people think about the care and treatment they receive from primary care staff is key to improving the quality of this care.
PCT survey of local health service users
Between January and April 2008, 69,000 patients from 152 PCTs responded to the survey, giving their experiences of GP practices and health centres and their access to dentists.
Key findings
- GPs scored well, with 74% of respondents saying their GP dealt with the main reason for their visit "completely" to their satisfaction.
- Access to GP services was an issue and variations were seen around the country. Thirteen per cent of respondents who had recently made an appointment reported waiting longer than the 48-hour target time because no earlier appointments were available.
- Of those respondents referred to a specialist, 43% said they were offered a choice of where they were referred to, compared with just over a quarter (26%) in 2005.
- Patients wanted more access to NHS dentists, with 79% of those not receiving NHS dentistry saying they would like it.
- Half of respondents said they visited an NHS dentist regularly, while 24% did so as a non-NHS patient.
- The number of respondents who said they did not get the advice they wanted on diet was 43% and 44% for exercise, although the majority of respondents said they got the information they needed on alcohol and tobacco.
