Annual GP patient survey - our response
The GP patient survey covers GP practice services and asks about your last contact, your last appointment and overall experience. The survey questionnaire also includes questions about when your GP practice is closed, your health and pharmacy and NHS dentistry services.
The results of the survey are published on behalf of NHS England on the GP Patient Survey website.
Key highlights
Three quarters, 74%, of patients reported a good overal experience of GP practice. Older people and people from African ethnic groups were most likely to report positive experience, while carers, people living in the most deprived areas, Disabled people, and those from Bangladeshi and Gypsy or Irish Traveller backgrounds reported less positive experiences.
Almost all respondents felt their needs were met at their last appointment and felt involved in decisions about their care. 86.7% felt listened to at their last appointment.
Despite this, the survey found some worrying trends:
- 38.2% of respondents found booking over the phone difficult
- 37.1% found booking through their GP website difficult
- 39.4% found booking through the NHS App difficult
- 41.2% were not offered a choice of time, day or location for their most recent appointment
- 33.2% waited over a week from first contacting their practice until their appointment.
See how your GP practice is doing or compare practices:
Other findings: pharmacy and dental care
Pharmacy findings:
- 86.8% of patients reported a good overall experience of their local pharmacy – 86.8%
Dentistry findings:
- 69.2% of patients reported a good overall experience of their NHS dental team
- 19.5% of patients described their experience as poor
- 26.5% of patients tried but could not get an NHS dental appointment in the last two years
- 26.8% of patients who haven’t tried to get an NHS dental appointment prefered to go private
- 24.7% of patients who haven’t tried to get an NHS dental appointment didn’t think they could get one.
