The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) has commissioned an annual Public Attitude Survey from 2003 to establish the level of satisfaction with health and social care services in Northern Ireland.

As part of the Stakeholder Involvement Programme, it was agreed in consultation with the Department, not to undertake a full public attitude survey in 2007/08, but rather to commission some focused qualitative research to explore in depth some of the issues arising from the previous surveys.

This was work was awarded to Social Market Research (SMR), in association with Social Research Centre (SRC) in March 2008. The research focused on services provide by GPs, Pharmacists and Dentists. The findings were based on discussions at twelve focus groups, with participants drawn from across Northern Ireland.

The final report ‘Qualitative Research on Services Provided by Independent Contractors’ was presented to the Department in September 2008. A number of themes emerged from the research findings; and three working groups, were set up to take these issues forward. The response from the working groups can be found below.

Community Pharmacy Response to Research

Dental Response to Research

The GPs Response to the research will be available shortly.