Read the latest FPM Blog from our resident “Service Guru”, Nick Coleman which talks about how your surgery can make small changes to improve the service you provide your patients.
Click here or read below
A question we get asked surprisingly often, is what advice can we offer practice managers to help them improve the service they offer their patients. Running a service based business, we have spent a lot of time developing our staff to offer the very best service they can. Here’s our top tips on the small differences your surgery can make.
Reception; the gateway to the surgery, this is where first impressions are born. Everyone entering the surgery should be greeted with a Good morning/Good afternoon. Saying this instead of hello, offers subtle positive wording. Loads of eye contact and a warm smile. Remember, surgeries can be a daunting place for many people. You may work in one every single day, but for the general public, its where they go when something’s wrong and they could be stressed and scared. A loving warm smile will help anyone relax.
Chances are your surgery is busy and if any patients are kept waiting to speak to the receptionist, it’s really important to use the formula; Good New, Bad News, Good News. An example of this is “Thank you for waiting, I’m sorry to have kept you, how can I help you this morning?” This positive message focuses the patient on what you can do, rather than on what you can’t do.
Empathy. Think about all the times that you’ve received poor service, and it’s very likely that you’ve been angry about it because the service assistant hasn’t shown any empathy. They don’t try and put themselves in your shoes and take ownership to fix it. Think about the impact your actions have on your patients and take ownership. i.e.“Good afternoon. Thank you for waiting. I’m sorry we are running a little behind today, the Doctor got caught up in an emergency. I’m sure you have places you need to be, so I have told her that you are waiting and she is going to see you as soon as she is finished with her current patient.”
Praise your staff. It’s really important that you make a big deal out of staff offering your patients the very best in service. We do this by awarding great service with “Disco Duck”. A small plastic duck that lights up and when they win this they get to win the “Bell of smugness”. Its silly and tongue in cheek, but you should see the staff’s face light up when they win it! This might not fit in with the culture of your business, but use other mediums to recognise it. Mention what they did at team meetings, have a Great Service noticeboard or give out a bunch of flowers each time a patient writes in and thanks the surgery for the service they received.
