GP Patient Survey 2023: 'Best and worst' doctors surgeries revealed

The GP Patient Survey 2023, carried out on behalf of NHS England, asked residents for their views on GP surgeries across a range of areas.

The categories included the ease of getting through on the phone, helpful receptionists, experience of making appointments, easy to use website, satisfaction with appointment times, how often patients see or speak to their preferred GP, how confident patients were of the healthcare professional they saw and an overall satisfaction rate.

The Uplands Medical Practice at Whitefield Health Centre received only a 37 per cent overall satisfaction rate, the lowest score out of all practices in Bury.

Read more: Ramsbottom: Residents 'up in arms' after Nuttall Lane works

The practice was also ranked the lowest scores in ease of getting through on the phone (19 per cent), satisfaction with appointment times (31 per cent) and scoring zero per cent on how often patients can speak to their preferred GP.

On the other end of the spectrum, the practice which was rated best in Bury was Townside Surgery on Knowsley Street in Bury with an overall satisfaction rate of 87 per cent.

Graph of the GP Satisfaction Survey results (Image: Alice Gerrard)

Blue Photo Modern Listing Presentation by Alice Gerrard

It also came out on top with an almost 100 per cent score for how confident patients were with their last appointment as well as receiving top marks (77 per cent) for ease of use of the website, 75 per cent for experience of making an appointment and 70 per cent for satisfaction of appointment times.

Read more: Bury construction company wins prestigious regional award

RESULTS: Percentage of overall satisfaction from patients from highest to lowest across GP’s in Bury:

TOWNSIDE SURGERY – 87 PER CENT

RIBBLESDALE MEDICAL PRACTICE – 82 PER CENT

ST GABRIELS MEDICAL CENTRE – 82 PER CENT

BLACKFORD HOUSE MEDICAL CENTRE – 81 PER CENT

GREYLANDS MEDICAL PRACTICE – 80 PER CENT

WOODBANK SURGERY – 79 PER CENT

FAIRFAX GROUP PRACTICE – 76 PER CENT

GARDEN CITY MEDICAL CENTRE – 76 PER CENT

MONARCH MEDICAL CENTRE – 74 PER CENT

KNOWSLEY MEDICAL PRACTICE – 73 PER CENT

RADCLIFFE MEDICAL PRACTICE – 70 PER CENT

LONGFIELD MEDICAL PRACTICE – 68 PER CENT

WHITTAKER LANE MEDICAL CENTRE – 68 PER CENT

HUNTLEY MOUNT MEDICAL CENTRE – 66 PER CENT

HE BIRCHES MEDICAL CENTRE– 63 PER CENT

REDBANK HEALTH CENTRE – 60 PER CENT

MILE LANE HEALTH CENTRE – 59 PER CENT

RAMSBOTTOM MEDICAL PRACTICE – 59 PER CENT

THE ELMS MEDICAL CENTRE – 59 PER CENT

WALMERSLEY ROAD MEDICAL PRACTICE – 57 PER CENT

TOWER FAMILY HEALTHCARE – 57 PER CENT

UNSWORTH MEDICAL CENTRE – 57 PER CENT

PEEL GPS – 56 PER CENT

ROCK HEALTHCARE LIMITED – 53 PER CENT 

THE UPLANDS MEDICAL PRACTICE – 37 PER CENT

This year's report's highest and lowest ratings (87 per cent and 37 per cent) are similar to those seen in 2022 with a slight increase in ratings (82 per cent and 38 per cent).

One of the best rated categories was the helpfulness of receptionists at Bury GPs with Ribblesdale Medical Practice, Knowsley Medical Centre and St Gabriel's Medical Centre all receiving 93 per cent satisfaction.

In rating how easy it is to access the GP via phone, Greylands Medical Practice took the top spot at 91 per cent with Townside Surgery coming in second at 85 per cent.

Read more: Road closures: 7 for Bury drivers over the next fortnight

One of the worst rated categories for most Bury GPs fell under the patient’s ability to speak or see a specific GP.

The practice with the best ratings for letting patients see a specific GP is Greylands Medical Practice (82 per cent) and the practice with the lowest rating was Uplands Medical Centre (zero per cent).

The latest survey consisted of around 2.47 million questionnaires sent out to patients aged 16 or over registered with GP practices in England from January 10, 2022, to April 11, 2022.

Around 720,000 patients completed and returned a questionnaire, resulting in a national response rate of 29.1 per cent.

Read more: Man in court after £12,500 worth of cocaine found in sock at Bury site

A spokesperson for The Uplands Medical Practice said: “While the results only reflect feedback from just under two per cent of our patient population, we’re still of course very disappointed that we’ve not been able to deliver the level of service our patients expect and deserve.

“As one of the smallest practices in Bury, we’ve been on a mission since March 2023 to make significant improvements for our patients.

“Thanks to feedback in our own practice surveys, patients can now book appointments through the NHS App and our online system, Patient Access.

“More than 80 per cent of our GP appointments are face-to-face. And we’re also about to go live with a new digital consultation tool this autumn that will mean patients can get in touch with us more easily.

“We’ve hired more reception staff and reached out for national funding for new cloud-based telephony to help reduce call wait times and provide a call-back feature.

“We’ve signed up for the GP recovery programme locally so we can work with local stakeholders in Bury and across Greater Manchester to make even more improvements.

“Collectively, we hope this transformation starts to be felt and seen by our patients soon as they rightly deserve.”

If you have a story tweet @BuryTimes or @Alicegerrard157 or email alice.gerrard@newsquest.co.uk.