New research into patient experiences in practices “hammers home” the need for more doctors and nurses, the Royal College of GPs has said.

Research published in the British Journal of GP Practice into patient safety in family doctor surgeries has revealed that patient-reported experiences of safety problems and harm are “common but preventable.”

The conclusions follow a cross-sectional study in 45 general practices across five regions in the north, centre, and south of England.

A questionnaire was sent to 6,736 adults who had had at least one interaction with their primary healthcare providers in the previous 12 months. Questionnaires were returned by 1,244 patients.

The survey looked at: practice activation; patient activation; experiences of patient safety events; and patients’ overall perception of safety, and it measured patient-reported patient safety and respondents reported on their perceptions, experiences, and outcomes in relation to the safety of the health care received from their GP practice over the previous 12 months.

Researchers found that scores were high for ‘practice activation’ (mean [standard error] = 80.4 out of 100 [2.0]) and low for ‘patient activation’ (26.3 out of 100 [2.6]).

A total of 45% patients reported experiencing at least one safety problem in the previous 12 months – 33% related to appointments, while 17% referred to diagnosis. Patient provider communication was raised by 15% of the respondents and 14% highlighted co-ordination between providers.

Altogether, 23% of the responders reported some degree of harm in the previous 12 months, while the overall assessment of level of safety of practices was generally high (86.0 out of 100 [16.8]).

The report’s authors said that after examining the results, special attention should be paid to areas related to appointments, diagnosis, communication and co-ordination between healthcare professionals, and settings.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said the findings were encouraging, but said it demonstrated the need for increased resources in practices.

“It is human nature to report a bad experience of a service than a good one, so the fact that most patients who responded to this survey had a positive perception of safety in their GP practice is really encouraging,” she said.

“However, it is important that where patient safety is a concern, it is identified and addressed swiftly and effectively.”

She said that GPs are consistently being ranked amongst the most trusted healthcare professionals in the UK but warned that a lack of resources continues to be a concern.

“The College has long been highlighting the risks that rising patient demand against a backdrop of decreasing resources and insufficient numbers of GPs and practice staff could have on our patients’ safety,” she said.

“This research backs this up, and hammers home the need for this issue to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

RCGP published a General Election manifesto – Six Steps for Safer General Practice – which calls on the new Government to implement the pledges of NHS England’s GP Forward View, including 5,000 extra GPs and 2,000 extra nurses working alongside GPs.

Reference: Patients’ evaluations of patient safety in English general practices: a cross-sectional study BJGP 6 June 2017