GP Phone Messages Review

Our review was designed to evaluate the messages for all 49 GP practices in the county, following on from our review of their websites. 

The aim of this piece of work was to listen to the messages and assess their content, tone and length and identify examples of best practice. 

What did we do?

Our team of volunteer researchers carried out a mystery shop of phone messages at 49 GP practices between December 2021 and March 2022. 

Two researchers telephoned each surgery at different times and reviewed the automated messages. The information that was deemed to be most useful for patients calling their GP was decided by the our project team, who drew up a checklist of questions that the researchers could refer to when recording their feedback.

What did we find out?

Our mystery shop revealed a wide variation in the information provided in recorded phone messages of GP practices, and the way the messages were delivered.

Our researchers found most of the messages to be informative, clear and easy to understand, with positive comments on welcoming, reassuring tones and being informative but not giving too much detail. 

A GP delivering the message was seen as particularly welcoming and reassuring. However, some thought that messages that focused on the requirements and expectations of the GP practice were off-putting and could be seen as unwelcoming.

Our researchers identified that good messages are easy to understand, are as short as possible and have a friendly, reassuring tone. Calls that cut off, long, rambling messages and a defensive tone are confusing, and may make the patient feel they are a nuisance.  

What happens next?

We have made a number of recommendations to GP practices based on our observations. One of our volunteer research team created a template message that could be adopted by practices.