New survey shows Gateway satisfaction
A new survey of Thanet’s Gateway Plus shows that the majority of
people questioned were satisfied with the level of service from
staff and found it easy to get what they were looking for.
Thanet’s Gateway Plus has provided a wide range of council,
library and voluntary services all in one building since January of
this year. It is the main point of contact for enquiries about
Thanet District Council services and also offers improved library
facilities, a range of Kent County Council services and information
from local voluntary and community groups.
The customer satisfaction surveys will be carried out on a
regular basis to see what people think of the service they receive
and where improvements can be made. The first results showed 94% of
people questioned were satisfied with the service they received
from staff there, with 81% saying it was easy to find what they
wanted. More than a third of people came to get books out of the
library. Nearly a quarter were there to discuss benefits issues,
with 16% visiting with housing enquiries and 13% using Thanet’s
Gateway Plus to access the Internet.
The surveys also asked how much people know about the services
that are provided in Thanet’s Gateway Plus. Only a third knew that
Thanet’s Gateway Plus is open until 8pm on Thursday evenings and is
open on Saturdays between 9am and 5pm. The majority of those
questioned did not know that Thanet’s Gateway Plus also provides
services, such as NHS health trainers, ward councillors surgeries,
smoking cessation sessions and the Kent County Council Registrar of
births, marriages and deaths.
Cllr. Martin Wise, Cabinet Member for Finance, Improvement and
Customer Services at Thanet District Council, said: “It’s very
pleasing to have such positive feedback about the service provided
by the staff at Thanet’s Gateway Plus and it’s also good to know
that people have, in the main, been able to easily find what they
are looking for. This survey does show where we need to improve in
the future though. It’s clear that many people are unaware of our
Thursday evening and Saturday opening and we need to do more to
promote that. We’ll also be looking at how we can get the message
out to local people about all the additional services that are
located at Thanet’s Gateway Plus.”
Since the opening of Thanet’s Gateway Plus in January, the
library has issued over 55,000 items, has joined more than 2,000
new borrowers and has had over 50,000 computer bookings.
ENDS