The Service: A Mystery Shopper review of the Enhanced Access Service across GP Practices in Manchester
This investigation involved contacting each GP Practice in Manchester via telephone to gauge their understanding and awareness of the Enhanced Access Service(EAS).
Mystery shopper style phone calls were used as the method of investigation. This provided an opportunity for HWM to understand if GP Practice staff were aware of the EAS. Thus we contacted all 83 GP practice in Manchester and assessed them against our three marking criteria:
- Quality
- Promptness
- Clarity
After completing our mystery shopper review, we found that 76% of the total number of practices we contacted told us that the practice offered the EAS or another practice in the PCN provided it.
Twenty practices told us they did not offer the EAS or any similar service even when asked the prompt question. This is 24% of the total number of practices we contacted.
In conclusion, the majority of GP Practices in Manchester offer the EAS either at their practice or at another practice in their PCN. However, a significant proportion of GP Practices (24%) in Manchester do not offer the EAS. Furthermore, the quality of information provided regarding the EAS was predominantly poor.
HWM recommends that resources should to be invested in training frontline GP Practice staff regarding the offer of the EAS including:
- The contractual obligation to provide the EAS
- Hours and days of the week the EAS is offered i.e. 6:30-8pm Monday to Friday
- The EAS appointment date i.e. the method by which appointments are made
- The nature of EAS appointments i.e. face to face or virtual
