Older patients' attitudes to General Practice Registrars

This project [pdf 28kb] is funded by CoastCityCountry Training Ltd in collaboration with: Gippsland Education and Training for General Practice; GP Synergy Ltd; Adelaide to Outback GP Training Program; Central and Southern Qld Training Consortium Ltd; and Western Australian General Practice Education and Training Ltd.

Staff guide - UOW GPR research project

Older patients' attitudes to General Practice Registrars

Dear staff member,

Thank you for assisting in this research that seeks to understand patient attitudes towards GP registrars. It is hoped this research will help enhance ways we communicate with patients about registrars and help improve patient satisfaction with seeing registrars. This might even make your job easier!

The researchers would like the packs provided to patients aged 60 years and over.

Please do not ask patients who are obviously distressed for any reason, or patients who have a significant cognitive deficit.

The aim is to distribute information packs in one week to fifty consecutive patients, aged 60 years and over, after they have seen a doctor. Practices that have been involved in similar research have found handing out the surveys at the time the patient is paying their account is efficient. The research team will discuss with your practice about the distribution dates well in advance.

Your practice may have developed a specific wording concerning registrars that the patients will understand, but if not, a suggested wording is outlined below. The important thing is that they understand whom the survey is about.

• Practice Information Sheet [pdf 30kb]
• Completion Sheet [pdf 24kb]

Patient FAQ's

Question: 
Do I have to receive an information package?

Answer:
No, not at all
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Question: 
If I receive a package do I have to participate?

Answer:
No, not at all
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Question: 
Is the practice giving out my personal information to the uni?

Answer:
No, we are distributing the surveys on their behalf, we will not divulge any information about you, and you are not being asked to provide any information that would identify you. 
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Question: 
What will they be asking me to do?

Answer:
Complete a 15 min survey about your attitudes to the new doctors who come through our practice, and return it by mail in the reply-paid envelope.
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Question: 
Do I receive anything for it?

Answer: 
No, but it will not cost you anything as the mail is pre-paid, and it will help in the specialist training of future GPs