12/06/2026
YEALM MEDICAL CENTRE FEEDBACK
Patient Feedback Update
Thank you to everyone who recently shared feedback following their appointment. We reviewed just under 400 responses. We really value hearing from people who have actually used our services. While the national GP Patient Survey gives us helpful information each year, it only goes to a small, random group of patients. Your direct feedback gives us a much clearer picture of how we are doing day-to-day.
Providing the Best Care We Can
When looking at feedback about any NHS service, it’s important to recognise the ongoing challenge between the level of care we want to offer—safe, responsive, accessible and continuous—and the funding available to provide it.
The newly released 2026/27 GP contract again means a real-terms drop in funding once inflation and rising staff costs are taken into account. At the same time, more people are living longer with complex health needs and requiring more frequent GP support.
Despite this, we continually review our services and are confident that we provide safe, high-quality care while working hard to remain accessible within the resources we have.
What You Told Us
Ease of Access
· 81% of patients found it extremely or somewhat easy to access the practice.
· Only 8% reported difficulty.
· 93% felt the waiting time for a response was about right.
This is encouraging and suggests that most patients who contact us find the system works well for them.
Satisfaction with Appointment Type
Whether your request was resolved through:
· a face-to-face appointment,
· a telephone call, or
· an Anima online response,
satisfaction levels were high:
· 81% of face-to-face patients were very satisfied
· 77% of those helped via Anima were very satisfied
· 69% of telephone appointment patients were very satisfied Only around 5% of all patients reported being dissatisfied.
Overall Experience
· 52% rated their interaction as excellent
· 27% as very good
· 11% as good Only a small number rated their experience as fair or poor.
We are pleased to see that most patients feel they receive a positive, supportive interaction when using the practice.
What We’re Improving
Alongside many kind comments praising rapid responses, being listened to, and receiving high-quality care, you also highlighted some areas where we can continue to improve:
· Some patients told us they feel unsure or uneasy about using Anima, our online request system.
· Others raised concerns about waiting times for routine appointments.
· A number of people shared that they sometimes find communication with the practice difficult.
These themes are extremely helpful, and we are already looking at ways to address them. Some of the concerns raised demonstrated that we need to provide better information about how to use anima and how else to access the practice. We will provide further information about these areas that were raised, and how we are responding in the next newsletter.
