You said, we did - Using GP services

 

Access to health services has
changed a lot because of the coronavirus pandemic.

We talked about
improving family doctor (GP)
services for people with a
learning disability and autistic
people.
This is a called a review of GP
services.

You said:
Some things in GP services
have worked OK during the
coronavirus pandemic and
some things need to improve.

On the next sections are the
suggestions for improvements.

Make reasonable
adjustments to support people
to see the doctor. Such as-

• give people time to explain the problem

• support to make an
appointment - if phoning up
is difficult and talking to a
receptionist about personal information is hard

• It really helps to see the same
GP each visit.

• not having to wear a mask if
it is too difficult

• tell people they can ask for
reasonable adjustments if
they need them and they are
disabled

(2) Record people’s reasonable
adjustments on the computer, so
you can remember each time.

(3) Make information simpler to
understand- and in the right
format.

(4) Help people prepare for
appointments.
Pictures of staff and of the
building- inside and outside
would help.

(5) Make the building easier to be
in- more relaxing.
Many people need a quiet space
with good lighting.
A better sensory environment.

(6) Longer opening hours has
helped people to have
appointments at quieter times
such as on Saturdays or in the
evenings.

(7) Staff should be trained on
working with people with a
learning disability and with
autistic people (and know the
two are different).

(8) Make it easier for people
with a learning disability to get
on the list of people with a
learning disability at their GP
surgery.
This is called the learning
disability register.

(9) Start an autism register, to
help autistic people get the
right support.

(10) GPs need to
communicate better with other
NHS services, such as other
GPs and with hospitals and
dentists.

(11) Make sure that all people
who are due an Annual Health
Checks are invited to their GP
surgery, and have them in
person where possible- to do
all the checks and to listen
well to people.

(12) Tell people about the
services they can get at their
GP. And which services they
don’t offer any more.

(13) Help people understand
when they should go to the
GP e.g. noticing changes in
their body, if they have been
feeling unwell for a while

(14) Making sure
people can see their GP when
they need to- with different
ways to get in touch. 

Phone calls can be really
difficult for some people. Ask
people how they prefer to be
contacted e.g. via text, letter
or online.

(15) Listen to autistic people,
people with a learning
disability and family carers in
each area to see how to
improve services.
You could help people to join
the patient participation
group.

We did

We are using this advice
to shape a big review of
GP services.

This is to make GP
services more
accessible in the future.

We are supporting GP
practices to carry out
Annual Health Checks
for people with a
learning disability and
working to make the
quality of the checks
better.

We are giving practical
advice to GP practices,
for example helping
them to understand
reasonable adjustments
and how to make them.

 

Published: Feb 23, 2022