NHS Alliance, the leading representative organisation for provision in primary care, has formed a strategic partnership with iWantGreatCare, the UK’s only service allowing patients to rate and review their doctors, hospitals and GP practices. The agreement comes as NHS Employers and the General Practitioners Committee of the BMA announce changes to the GMS contract in England for 2014/15, which include the introduction of the Friends and Family Test in primary care in December 2014.
The partnership allows NHS Alliance members to access to iWantGreatCare’s market-leading capture and analysis service at no cost for up to five years. The offer also guarantees to cover all requirements of the Friends and Family Test.
The offer will extend to all practices that are currently members of NHS Alliance and to those that apply within the next six months, and will include:
- Online questions to collect patient experience;
- Web pages for all GPs and general practices;
- Unique practice manager online control programme to monitor feedback in real time;
- Monthly practice reports providing an overview of feedback;
- Promotional materials to encourage the engagement of patients; and,
- A guarantee to cover all aspects of the upcoming Friends and Family Test.
Dr Brian Fisher, GP and NHS Alliance PPI Network Lead said: “We have worked closely with iWantGreatCare to ensure that the Friends and Family Test is tailored to the primary care setting, and that patients can use it to provide meaningful, and useful feedback on the clinical and wider practice experience. We hope the test will provide real added value for both GPs and practices, and ensure that across the country, all patients receive the same level of high quality care.”
Rick Stern, chief executive, NHS Alliance said: “Excellent patient care has always been at the heart of the NHS Alliance and this is a great opportunity to offer GPs in England vital support in bringing patient voices to the centre of decision-making. QoF had become too medically focused and bureaucratic, and it is encouraging to see the balance being redressed.
“Our partnership with iWantGreatCare provides our members with the means to be fully prepared when the Friends and Family Test is mandated next year, and will mean they don’t have to find the money to roll it out.”
Dr Neil Bacon, founder of iWantGreatCare, comments, “iWantGreatCare already captures patient feedback for a quarter of NHS hospitals. The changes being made as a direct result of listening to the patient voice are already having a massive impact on our health service.”
“GP members of the NHS Alliance will have free access to iWantGreatCare’s secure platform enabling them to capture continuous, real-time feedback from all their patients, to fully understand the experience of their patients and use this to meet the requirements of the Friends and Family Test. iWantGreatCare’s service is also a chance for GPs to meet the personal requirements for appraisal and revalidation and have unprecedented insight into the voice of their patients.”
The Friends and Family Test currently allows every patient, carer, relative and friend to comment on standards of care in hospitals. By the end of 2014, the government will require all GPs and general practices to seek similar patient feedback without additional budgetary allowance.
The NHS Alliance patient feedback offer will be available to current members and those that take membership before the end of May 2014.
Notes to editors:
NHS Alliance
NHS Alliance is the leading independent voice for primary care, bringing together patients, frontline staff, providers and commissioners bound by the common values of the NHS. Its core purpose is to work collaboratively to improve health care within a sustainable NHS, facilitating new and better ways of delivering services through its networks and campaigns. It welcomes patient-focused organisations and individuals of all disciplines, representing them to government and its agencies to influence policy in the interests of all its members.
For further information please contact rebecca.riffel@salixconsulting.com, 020 8675 4779 / 07725 555030 (24/7)
iWantGreatCare.org
iWantGreatCare is the only independent source of information in the UK enabling patients to choose a doctor based on the ratings and reviews of fellow patients. It is used by more patients, to add more reviews than any other rating service in the UK.
Visitors to iWantGreatCare.org rate their doctor using three measurements known to relate to better healthcare outcomes and be valued by patients in choosing care: Do you trust this doctor? Does this doctor listen? and Would you recommend this doctor?
iWantGreatCare.org is chosen by Trusts across the UK, including Leeds Teaching Hospitals, The Royal Marsden, Great Western Hospitals, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals.
For further information, please contact Jack Davies, jack.d@agencybrazil.com 020 3176 4991
