Grove Road Surgery - GP Visits Project

As part of our annual work plan, we have been working with GP practices across East Sussex to support and enable practice staff and Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) to hear what is working well and what may benefit from change.
 

This report draws together the findings from our activity with Grove Road Surgery, Eastbourne.

We found:

• In general, we found that the surgery site is well maintained and accessible, although due to location parking is limited and could be an issue. 
• Access to the building is supported by a large sign out front which helps to distinguish the practice from the surrounding buildings. However, additional signage outside is limited and often small. 
• Once inside, the practice is light, clear and obstacle free, providing space to navigate and move around the space, and two waiting areas were available. The reception space does lack a private space for patients to have conversations with staff and the drop-down section of the desk designed for wheelchair accessibility was blocked by chairs at the time. 
• Feedback gathered during the visit indicated generally positive patient experiences particularly with the staff they had encountered. 
• Concerns were raised by some patients that we spoke to about the timeliness of appointments and the triaging process.  
• The practice currently has an engaged PPG and it was positive to hear the shared ambition from staff and members to grow the group and increase its reach. 
• The practice could benefit from improved information on leaving feedback both in person and online, with a lack of a clear route to share feedback and mismatched experiences of the Friends and Family Test, highlighted through our conversations with staff, PPG members and patients.
• Both the website and phone messages were overall viewed as effective however some issues were raised regarding out-of-date information or difficulties in accessing some resources. 

Read our full report with all of our findings, conclusions and recommendations for improvement and also includes a response from Vita Healthcare, the practices GP partnership and leadership team below. 

What did we do

In June 2026, our staff and volunteers undertook: 

• A visit to Grove Road Surgery in Eastbourne to carry out observations of accessibility and the environment from a patient-perspective
• Conversations with the practice staff and PPG members to understand their priorities
• Conversations with patients about what worked well and what needed to change
• Mystery shopping of the practice’s website and phone messages to review information sharing

Next steps 

Our report will also be shared with Healthwatch England to support national learning and NHS Surrey and Sussex who commission GP services locally.

Throughout 2026 and 2027 we will be carrying out more activity like this with other GP practices across East Sussex. 

We will also continue to work with the GP practices involved in the project to support  implementation of our recommendations and other priorities and opportunities identified through the process.