Patients at a Norwich doctors surgery are now able to give real-time feedback about their care at the touch of a button.

A new initiative from Healthwatch Norfolk and Thorpewood Medical Group, means traditional paper surveys are being supplemented by a touch screen kiosk which it is hoped will encourage more patients of all ages to share their views about what it is like to be a patient at Thorpewood Medical Group.

This follows a Healthwatch Norfolk report which revealed local GP practices can find it difficult to capture feedback about their services.

All feedback from the kiosk will be published anonymously on Healthwatch Norfolk's website at www.healthwatchnorfolk.co.uk, alongside general feedback about other health and care services, as part of Healthwatch Norfolk's online feedback centre.

Thorpewood Medical Group will use the feedback to monitor the quality of their services as perceived by patients, taking action to resolve problems where possible and sharing positive comments to motivate members of staff.

If the 12-month pilot is successful, Healthwatch Norfolk plans to roll the kiosk - developed alongside LHM Media Ltd - out across other health and social care settings such as hospitals, clinics, dentists, as well as libraries and other community services.

Alex Stewart, chief executive officer of Healthwatch Norfolk said: 'Healthwatch Norfolk is excited to partner with Thorpewood Medical Group and LHM in this initiative. We are always looking for new and innovative ways of gathering the views and experiences of people using health and care services across the county. Local people consistently tell us that their GP services are very important to them and this is a real opportunity for the patients of Thorpewood Medical Group to have their say.'

Ian Wilson, practice manager of Thorpewood Medical Group added: 'We are really keen to learn from patient feedback, both on what we are doing well and also where we can improve things further. This new initiative with Healthwatch Norfolk will be very valuable, taking patient feedback to a new level of detail and allowing us to build better-designed services in future. It is a good example of how innovative technology is starting to be used in the NHS to improve things for the patient.'