Now in its 10th year of operation the D-Doc service continues to score well with patients in the latest Northdoc survey. Patients were surveyed about their experience throughout the patient journey in D-Doc, from the call answering stage, through nurse triage, and on to the experience they had in the centres and with GPs.
98% of respondents said that the calls were answered promptly, found the call takers courteous, the triage nurses helpful, and rated our centre nurses and staff as excellent. Satisfaction with GP consultations was high.
There is a significant evidence that the service is being used on a regular basis by patients. Only 22% of patients use the service just once in a 12 month period, 40% had use of twice or three times, and 38% indicated that they used the service four times more in one 12 month period.
When asked how they would rate the service on D-Doc overall there was a 95% satisfaction rating scoring good or excellent.
When asked “how would you rate the doctor consultation in terms of findings and treatment” there was a 90% satisfaction rating scoring good or excellent.
Waiting times in D-Doc were relatively short – with 92% of patients saying they were seen in under 30 minutes with the remaining 8% been seen in less than one hour.
The results show that there is a definite trend towards treating the service as a ‘convenience’ rather than just for the “urgent” out of hours GP care it was originally set up for. 
D Doc stats have shown a year on year increase in attendances with particular pressure at holiday weekends and over the Christmas and New Year period. The survey was conducted in March and include patients seen during preceeding busier winter months.