1. How do we obtain the printed questionnaire forms?
Please make sure you use the same version of the questionnaire for your complete survey.

Questionnaire forms are available ready-to-print from the http://www.npcrdc.ac.uk/GPAQ__a_patient_questionnaire_for_general_practice_.htm website.

If the questionnaire is to be printed (rather than photocopied), it is better if this is done A3 and folded. Pages can't get lost, there are no paperclips or staples involved, and the weight of paper is halved.

2. Do you supply the survey forms?
We think it is more efficient for you to arrange this locally, as paper is expensive to transport around the country.

3. Why 50 questionnaires per GP and what happens if we have fewer questionnaires?
This number was calculated by NPCRDC, Manchester to give statistically repeatable results to within a specified degree at the 95% confidence level. Fewer numbers make the results less reliable. See the Manual, available from the 'downloads' page on the http://www.npcrdc.ac.uk/GPAQ__a_patient_questionnaire_for_general_practice_.htm website for more details.

3. Do your prices include the 10p per questionnaire Royalty Fee?
Individual practices may copy and use the GPAQ questionnaire royalty free. Our fees include any royalty payable to Manchester University where applicable.

4. Are the GPAQ questionnaires available in other languages?
Although we don't provide a translation service, we recommend firstly checking the translations page of the NPCRDC website to see if there is already a version in the language you are looking for; and if you produce the questionnaire in another language, please let Sylvia at the NPCRDC know.

5. Is there a version of the GPAQ Questionnaire specific to Practice Nurses?
This is now available from NPCRDC, Manchester (http://www.npcrdc.ac.uk/GPAQ__a_patient_questionnaire_for_general_practice_.htm ). CMI offer an analysis service for this survey, too, and there is no extra administration fee for the nurse survey if sent to us for analysis at the same time as GPAQ for the practice doctor(s).

6. Are there any advantages in carrying out the survey as a PCT rather than as an individual practice?
There are two major advantages in completing the exercise as a PCT, rather than on an individual practice basis, provided the questionnaires are sent to us in one batch. One is financial, we offer a substantial discount to the participating practices. The other is that we can prepare current, local benchmark figures across the whole PCT, as well as for each individual practice/practitioner. This is valuable alongside the national benchmark data.

7. We are ready to carry out the survey, what do we need to do?
See Planning Your Survey.

8. Can we survey some patients by post, and some in-surgery?
This is not advisable. The two versions of the survey as some different questions; also benchmark figures obtained from the two methods of administering the survey differ. In-surgery surveys tend to give higher scores. No useful and/or meaningful comparisons can be made with national benchmarks by combining the two methods, and it would be difficult to produce a statistically reproducible figures even within the surgery. Therefore it would be impossible to track improvements.

9. Do you provide a more comprehensive service from the reports in Excel, available from the Manchester GPAQ website?
Yes. We analyse the results using a powerful statistics programme, SPSS. It is not cost effective for individual practices (or even PCTs) to purchase this programme solely for this survey. Sample reports are available:

Sample Practice Report
Sample Individual GP Report
Comparison Report Last Year and This Year
Sample PCT Report

We are improving and developing our reports all the time. We have a great deal of experience in analysing GPAS and GPAQ surveys, and will tailor the report to your practice(s).

We are flexible and can also analyse extra questions if required.

10. If we want to produce our own report, but using more sophisticated and detailed statistics than the Excel figures, can you supply SPSS processed data for us?
Ask us. We try to help if we can.

11. How is data entry carried out?
Data is entered by experts and is verified by the standard double entry technique.

12. What is the timescale for your survey analysis?
Provided there are no bank holidays, data entry takes about a week, and depending on the time of year, reports about another 3 to 6 weeks for an individual practice, a little longer, of course, for a large PCT.

13. What do we do if we would like you at CMI to analyse our survey results?
Please let us know at an early stage, so that we can 'book you in', and please keep in touch with us regarding the timescale for your survey. Let us know when you are planning to send the questionnaires to us, and if you don't have links with a favourite carrier, we recommend sending questionnaires by ParcelForce or Royal Mail Special Delivery as they know where to find us.

Important: Questionnaires should be well wrapped they are a shifting load, and strong paper envelopes do split. Questionnaires should be packed securely and flat, not folded, nor in individual envelopes. Where appropriate, individual GPs and practices within PCTs, must be coded numerically (eg 001, 002 etc, NOT by initials as computer programmes need numbers) in the boxes at the top of the questionnaires. Otherwise this causes delay, and will incur an extra administration charge.

14. How do we get the early payment discount?
As soon as we receive your questionnaires for analysis, we will invoice you, which will give you the opportunity to claim our generous discount.

15. Will the questionnaires be returned to us?
If you wish, we can return the questionnaires to you. We will charge only carriage at cost. Otherwise, the questionnaires will be shredded 6 months after your analysis has been completed.

16. What happens if our questionnaires get lost or damaged in transit?
This has not happened yet, but the consequences are daunting to contemplate. They go beyond repeating the survey, particularly when deadlines are approaching. Insurance is not included in our costs. We aways use reputable carriers, but they limit their liability.

The cheapest and most effective form of insurace is for practices to make photocopies of the questionnaires before sending them anywhere. If we did this, it would increase costs, and would not cover the journey from you to us.

Additional advantages to keeping photocopies of the questionnaires are that a) you would keep note of the 'Comments', which have not analysed in the past; and b) you will save the expense in having questionnaires returned to you at the end of the exercise.

17. What happens if I lose my Reports?
In addition to the printed copies of your report(s), we routinely send you copies of all report(s) on CD. This enables you to make additional copies if needed.