Positive results for NHS Western Isles' Primary Care in the Scottish Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey

A survey of over 1000 residents in the Western Isles has found that the majority of GP patients report a positive experience of their care.

The Scottish Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey is a postal survey which was sent to a random sample of people who were registered with a GP in Scotland based on information available on 25th September 2023.

Questionnaires were sent out in October and November 2023 asking about people’s experiences during the previous 12 months.

The response rate for our NHS Board area was 27 per cent with 1149 responses to the survey.

The survey covered five areas of health and care experience:

•     Your General Practice

•     Treatment or advice from your General Practice

•     Out of hours healthcare

•     Care, support and help with everyday living

•     Caring responsibilities

When asked ‘how easy is it for you to contact your General Practice in the way that you want?’ 95 per cent of people had a positive experience.

Most people (90 per cent) felt positively about the quality of information that was provided to them by the Medical Receptionists.

When rating the overall care provided by General Practices across the Western Isles, a high proportion of respondents had positive experiences (86 per cent).

Arrangements for getting to speak to members of the multidisciplinary team at the practices also received positive feedback, such as pharmacist (83 per cent positive), physiotherapist (65 per cent positive) and a mental health professional (56 per cent positive).