10.09.14
FFT must not create ‘further bureaucratic burdens’ on GPs
The roll-out of the Friends and Family Test (FFT) to GP practices across England in 2015 needs to be as “workable” and “flexible” for doctors as possible, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has stated – and not create “further, unnecessary bureaucratic burdens”.
Dr Maureen Baker, chair of the RCGP, told NHE that the GP-patient relationship is unique in the NHS and GPs remain the most trusted healthcare professionals in the UK. “However, there is always room for improvement and it is important that all patient feedback – whether positive or negative – is taken very seriously.”
From January next year all GP practices in England will have to provide monthly data on the FFT, following recent changes announced by NHS England.
In particular, NHS England believes the roll out of FFT to GPs will mean every patient will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the services they have received, enabling the public to make better informed choices about the services they use.
An NHS England spokesperson told NHE: “The FFT will provide practices with a regular near real-time feedback loop direct from their patients, which can help them to understand their areas of strength and weakness and drive improvements to patient care very quickly compared to traditional survey methods which often take months to produce results.”
Dr Baker said that it is through feedback that GP teams can improve the care they deliver to their patients and that GP practices already actively encourage patients to raise concerns if they feel that the care and services they have received are below their expectations.
“At a time when GPs are facing intense financial and workforce pressures, it is essential that implementation of the FFT is as workable and flexible for GPs as possible,” said Dr Baker. “The College has been in discussions with NHS England and other stakeholders to work out how to maximise the benefits of the FFT in terms of improving services for patients without creating any further, unnecessary bureaucratic burdens.”
NHS England stated that the FFT guidance, which has been agreed with the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee, is clear that practices do not need to ask patients to complete the FFT questionnaire at every appointment, but should make the opportunity available for those who do want to provide feedback.
However, there will be a small number of mandatory requirements. For instance, practices must provide an opportunity for people who use the practice to give anonymous feedback through the FFT; use the standard wording of the FFT question and the responses; include at least one follow up question which allows the opportunity to provide free text comment; submit data to NHS England each month; and publish results locally.
The RCGP appears to have mollified its criticism of the FFT. Last year, in response to the ‘Improving general practice – a call to action’ consultation, Professor Nigel Mathers, honorary secretary of council at the RCGP, wrote: “We would caution against placing undue emphasis on the FFT. In our view, this will fail to provide as meaningful a measure of patient experience as the GP Patient Survey, not least as it risks making overly simplistic – and therefore misleading – comparisons between different GP providers.
“Moreover, the FFT will inevitably impose an additional administrative burden on practices, and will duplicate feedback already received through the Patient Survey.”
NHS England’s spokesperson has noted that the FFT does not provide results that can be used to directly compare practices because the flexibilities in collection methodologies and variation in populations in different areas mean we are not comparing like with like. There are other robust mechanisms for that, such as national GP Patient Survey and outcomes measures, but, for each practice, it can help mark progress over time.
Dr Baker added that GPs are always keen to do more for their patients, “but we currently make 90% of all NHS patient contacts for just 8.39% of the budget – the lowest on record.
“What is really needed to improve patient care across the entire health service is more investment in general practice.”
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