iWantGreatCare, the privately-run website for public NHS feedback, has offered all London GP practices use of its Friends and Family Test (FFT) platform for free for three years.
Practices taking up the offer will get their own website on iWantGreatCare, the site run by doctors.net.uk founder Dr Neil Bacon, to which they can direct patients to give feedback. iWantGreatCare then promises that it will monitor FFT submissions to ‘prevent gaming and system abuse’, instantly alert practices of new feedback, give practices the opportunity to respond to it and supply reporting and benchmarking, while also fulfilling the criteria of GP appraisal and revalidation.
NHS England announced last month that every GP practice in England will have to provide monthly data on the FFT from January next year. In guidance for GPs, NHS England outlined the requirements that will be made of GPs as part of the test, which asks patients whether they would recommend services to their friends and family if they needed similar care or treatment.
The iWantGreatCare website received a tough reception by GPs when it was first set up in 2008, with a Pulse poll showing that 90% of GPs were ‘very unhappy’ with it, but this has not deterred Londonwide LMCs from entering into a cooperation with Dr Bacon over the FFT.
In its August newsletter, the Londonwide LMCs said: ‘Londonwide LMCs is working with iWantGreatCare, the leading provider of FFT services to the NHS, to provide LMC members with a solution that meets all your FFT requirements, free for three years.’
‘iWantGreatCare has been supporting dozens of Hospital Trusts since the introduction of the FFT into acute hospitals in April 2013, and work closely with NHS England in implementing the programme. The iWantGreatCare solution is guaranteed to be fully compliant with NHS England’s requirements for the FFT implementation in primary care, now and in the future.’
‘The service is a unique, simple, self-managed tool for GP practices to collect continuous, real-time feedback enabling every patient to leave feedback about their surgery and, optionally, their GP.’
The news comes after Pulse recently revealed that Dr Bacon is advising commissioners on setting up ‘TripAdvisor-style’ star ratings for GP practices in England, while the Government is reported to be working on a ‘traffic lights’ ratings system.
