1. Primary Healthcare Monitor
What is it?
A survey of GP and nurses working in primary care settings, including practice nurses
and district nurses.
What are the benefits?
GPs and nurses working in primary care are a key group for many medical and
disability charities because they act as a gatekeeper to many health and social care
services. As disseminators of health and lifestyle advice they are particularly well-
placed to offer the public up-to-date information provided by charities, as well as
referring them on for specialist support. A health professional’s knowledge about a
particular condition, and their attitude towards it, can be a critical factor in a patient’s
experience of healthcare. For example, if a GP or nurse is unaware of the latest
advances in asthma care, their patients may not get the best support that is
available.
Our Primary Healthcare Professionals Monitor offers charities a cost-effective way to
understand this key target audience, their awareness of the voluntary sector and their
level of contact with charities. By gathering information for a number of charities at
the same time, we are able to reduce the costs for each participating organisation.
What do we ask and when?
Issues covered include awareness of specific charities (spontaneous and prompted),
level of contact from charities and how this has affected their views, preferred
methods of communication from charities, awareness of particular initiatives and
campaigns and which charities they support personally, if any. In addition,
participants will be asked how well equipped they feel to provide information to their
patients on specific conditions, disabilities and illnesses chosen by charities that are
taking part in the research.
W: www.nfpSynergy.net T: 020 7426 8888 E: insight@nfpsynergy.net

2. Sample of topics asked about
Awareness and contact with charities, e.g.
Rating of information received
Perceptions of charities’ services
Experience and knowledge of conditions, e.g.
Confidence in ability to provide information
Preferred methods of updating knowledge about conditions
Providing information to patients, e.g.
Likelihood of referring patient to a charity
Triggers and barriers to passing on charity information
Recall of communications and campaigns
Other general learnings about this audience, e.g.
Media consumption – on and off line
NHS reforms
Participating charities are also able to request additional questions specific to their
Participating charities are also able to request additional questions specific to their
requirements (for an additional cost).
The first survey of GPs took place in 2001, followed by surveys in 2003, 2005 and
2007. 2010 was the first year to include both GPs and nurses. The next wave will
take place this autumn 2011 (depending on demand).
Sample and methodology
The sample size is 400 in total: comprised of 200 GPs and 200 primary care nurses.
As we will be accessing respondents via an online panel that has already agreed to
take part in research, we can be assured of achieving this sample size.
The cost and package for subscribers
£4,450 plus VAT
£4,250 plus VAT for current nfpSynergy clients
£3,450 for small charities (income under £10 million)
Additional questions specific to participating charities are charged at an additional
cost, according to the type and complexity of the question, from around £175 plus
VAT for a simple Yes/No question up to £700 plus VAT for an open-ended question.
N.B Subscription costs are based on 8 or more charities signing up to the monitor. If
fewer charities wish to take part, it may still be possible to go ahead, at an increased
cost of participation for each charity.

3. Deliverables
Detailed power point report the client area of our website.
each wave of research Invitations to our client
A written summary of the seminars known as Insight
results events
Interrogation/segmentation of Annual networking
data on request opportunities to meet charities
Access to all your research via working in your area of work
Sample results
Awareness of Charity A’s services
Specialist healthcare services for patients 58%
62%
Support network/face to face support groups for patients, carers & families 58%
63%
Info about how support for patients, carers & their families could be improved 50%
48%
General telephone helpline for patients, carers & families 45%
44%
Training courses for healthcare professionals 39%
31%
Info on how the health & social care system could improve to provide better support 35%
32%
Specialist telephone helpline staffed by nurses 35%
24%
Walk-in centres providing info & support for patients, carers & their families 29%
34%
Specialist online info for healthcare professionals 21%
17%
Info on disease prevention and signs & symptoms 19%
20%
GPs
Online support groups/forums for patients, carers & families 17%
25% Nurses
Statistical info on survival, incidence & mortality 17%
15%
Financial support/grants for patients, carers & their families 14%
23%
Mobile units or roadshows providing information for the public 12%
15%
Grants for health professionals 5%
10%
Don't know 4%
5%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
“Many charities offer a range of services. For each of the charities listed below, please select the services that you would
associate with each charity.
Base: 200 GPs and 200 nurses working in primary care, UK
Source: Primary Healthcare Professionals Monitor, Sep 10, nfpSynergy
Rating of information provided by selected charities
4 5 - Completely met my expectations
Charity 1 28% 62%
Charity 2 25% 62%
Charity 3 28% 59%
Charity 4 22% 64%
Charity 5 26% 56%
Charity 6 33% 49%
Charity 7 23% 59%
Charity 8 33% 48%
Charity 9 24% 56%
Charity 10 32% 47%
Charity 11 32% 47%
Charity 12 33% 45%
Charity 13 34% 44%
Charity 14 27% 47%
Charity 15 28% 41%
Charity 16 27% 27%
Charity 17 20% 25%
Charity 18 20%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
“For each of the charities you received information from, please rate how much the information you received met your
expectations.”
Base: All who have received information from each charity, from 200 GPs and 200 nurses working in primary care, UK
130 Source: Primary Healthcare Professionals Monitor, Sep 10, nfpSynergy

4. Previous subscribers:
Our expertise in health
We have carried out a wide range of bespoke research projects on behalf of
charities and other organisations working in the health and disability sector,
including Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Skills for Health,
Macmillan Cancer Support, Leonard Cheshire Disability and Muscular Dystrophy
Campaign. This has involved research about sensitive subjects among a range
of audiences, including healthcare professionals and people with particular
health conditions or disabilities. Some examples of our work are below:
Understanding patient and stakeholder views for Moorfields Eye
Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
We carried out a detailed audit of stakeholders’ views. To gather a full range of
stakeholder perceptions, we carried out more than 35 in-depth interviews with
senior stakeholders representing a range of clinical and management
specialities, both within Moorfields and in partner organisations such as
academic institutions, outreach sites, sight-related charities and high street
commercial partners. We also undertook focus groups with Moorfields staff,
current and former patients, and carers.
The results were presented to the full medical board as part of the strategic
review and a detailed report of the findings, highlighting the overarching
themes of the audit, was delivered to the management team for use in creating

5. the new 10-year strategic plan for the Trust.
Facilitating access to online support for disabled children for Muscular
Dystrophy Campaign
The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign commissioned nfpSynergy to research the
needs of young people aged 6-20 for a website providing information,
entertainment and support. We undertook in-home, qualitative in-depth
interviews with children and young people with muscular disease. In addition to
exploring their personal experiences of muscular disease and (in many cases)
feelings of isolation, we also worked with the young people, using observational
and experiential research to explore their reactions and thoughts on the
website and to test it for usability, content and style.
Muscular Dystrophy Campaign used our research findings to make changes and
additions to the website to make it more usable and bring it into line with the
needs and desires of its target audience. The website has been a great success,
providing a source of both information and support for young people with
muscular disease.
nfpSynergy showed great understanding of and empathy with our client group -
young children with life-limiting conditions - which I'm sure, meant they gave
better quality responses.
Sally Otter, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign
For more information
For more information about this research or to make a subscription enquiry,
please contact the Primary Healthcare team at phm@nfpsynergy.net, or 020
7426 8888.
If you are interested more broadly in the healthcare sector and would like to
carry out research among other healthcare professionals or users of health and
social care services, please talk to us about developing some bespoke research
for you.
About nfpSynergy
nfpSynergy is a research consultancy dedicated to the not for profit sector. Our
aim is to provide ideas, insights and information that help not for profit
organisations thrive. Our clients include charities, housing associations and
public bodies who use our research to inform their strategies and planning.
From our origins in syndicated tracking research on public attitudes for non-
profit clients, nfpSynergy has now grown its portfolio of bespoke research to
become one of the leaders in non-profit sector market research.
Our size and our story

6. nfpSynergy was created in 2002 as a division of the Future Foundation. Two
years later the founder Joe Saxton led a management buy-out. In 2009 we had
an annual turnover of £1.6 million and around 20 staff members including
a variable number of interns. We own our own premises in Spitalfields.
Tracking research
We run several tracking surveys that monitor the attitudes and opinions of key
stakeholder groups relating to the not for profit sector. The research is done for
a syndicate of participating charities who share costs and data. The aim of our
tracking studies is to provide lower cost, more frequent and more detailed
research than any organisation could achieve by acting on its own. The tracking
research includes:
Charity Awareness Monitor (CAM) - the general public
Charity Parliamentary Monitor (CPM) - MPs and Lords
Youth Engagement Monitor (YEM) – young people
In addition, we have developed syndicated tracking studies on journalists, local
authorities, health professionals, the general public in Scotland and the
Republic of Ireland.
Projects and consultancy
Each year we carry out around 50 projects for non-profit clients that include
surveying over 100,000 people from the general public, supporters and staff.
We also carry out over 50 focus groups a year on average and interview over
100 people in more depth either face to face or over the phone. We are a full
member of the Market Research Society, on the COI list of approved qualitative
and desk research agencies and on the British Council’s fundraising agency
roster. Our projects and consultancy work covers a vast range: from helping
the British Council to develop an income-generation strategy to investigating
apprenticeships in the NHS to researching the barriers and opportunities for
young people in seeking help. In particular we specialise in stakeholder audits
and in supporters and client/user satisfaction studies. We also have a
particularly strong record of work in the health and young people sectors.
Our clients include
There are over 75 organisations we have worked with in the last two years
alone. These include: the Audit Commission, The Big Lottery Fund, Ofsted, the
Scout Association, Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, NSPCC,
Save the Children, Oxfam, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Skills for Health, the British
Council, Drinkaware, National Housing Federation, UNICEF-UK and WWF-UK.
Our research standards and data protection:
As full members of the Market Research Society, we comply
with their code of conduct at all times, ensuring that
research is carried out in a professional and ethical manner.