“Support for all matters primary care” – learnings from PHN’s annual practitioner survey

To ensure that Brisbane North PHN continues to deliver fit for purpose clinical support to general practice, annual brand tracking is undertaken to collate, review and action feedback about our services and impact.

In July 2022, a sample survey of GPs, nurse practitioners and practice managers was undertaken to gauge: their awareness of PHN’s services and flagship programs, feedback on the impact of these programs and the PHN’s performance in general, satisfaction with their level of engagement with the PHN, as well as anecdotal feedback around work stress and burnout in our practitioner cohort.

Practitioners were asked how likely they would be to recommend a service, program or provider (PHN), and these rankings are then aggregated into a net promoter score (NPS) – a measure of customer loyalty, satisfaction and enthusiasm.

Brisbane North PHN’s NPS remains highest amongst practice manager and nurse practitioner respondents, who consider the PHN to be a meaningful and effective liaison for practices. While 31 per cent of GP “promoters” ranked the PHN a nine or ten out of ten – improving the NPS score from 2021 – it is evident there is work to be done to install the PHN as a first port of call for general practice in matters of urgency or specificity. Support, connection, coordination, information, education and advocacy were described as the PHN’s broader strengths.

Program specific findings, including suggestions for improvement, included:

• 93 per cent of GPs have now heard of Smart Referrals with strong adoption (74 per cent) of the software. There is a clear need for support in navigating the program, and Brisbane North PHN is now working on a user guide resource for GPs and practices.
• 89 per cent of GPs are aware of HealthPathways and over half (53 per cent) use the program at least once per week. New HealthPathways are updated fortnightly in Network Link, and tailored support, demonstrations and feedback can be requested by contacting administration.integration@brisbanenorthphn.org.au.
• 75 per cent are aware of COVID support services, but it is clear many practitioners are missing the level of pre-COVID face-to-face engagement.

Half of GP respondents felt impacted by stress or burnout and more than a third were open to accessing local program or support.

Noting that GPs prefer to access information through the PHN website, GPLO program and GPLO education events, Brisbane North PHN is currently undertaking a review of our communications strategy to ensure more brevity and less repetition across our channels (including email). To foster a better sense of connection, we are also pleased to be returning to face-to-face events again this year, including regular practice manager meetings and in-person training.