Patient experience at Wakefield GP surgeries exceeds regional and national average in annual patient survey

GP surgeries in Wakefield District have received positive feedback in this year’s national GP Patient Survey.

The annual GP Patient Survey is an England-wide poll, providing data on patient experience for every GP practice in the country. It is carried out by market research company Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England.

Between January and April this year patients registered with GP practices in Wakefield district were asked to rate the service they received in areas including making appointments, their views on the care they received, how their health conditions were managed and health services available when surgeries are closed.

According to the survey, 73% of people in Wakefield rated the overall experience of their GP practice as good. Most patients said they were satisfied with the care they received at their last appointment, with patients saying they felt that they were given enough time by their healthcare professional and felt that their healthcare professional listened to them.

Over 84% reported receptionists were helpful and 57% rated the overall experience of making an appointment as good.

Dr Colin Speers, Executive System Healthcare Advisor for Wakefield District Health and Care Partnership said: “It’s great to see so many local people have had a positive experience of their GP practice and that we’ve scored above the national and regional average in a number of areas. These results are thanks to the hard work and dedication of all our colleagues working in practices across the district.”

Increasing levels of satisfaction among patients comes as two of the district’s practices have seen their ratings upgraded following visits from the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

The Surgery on Stuart Road in Pontefract (Drs. Sreelatha and Thachankary) and Ash Grove Medical Centre in Knottingley had both been rated as requires improvement following inspections in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

New inspections in June of this year showed improvements had been made and led to new ‘Good’ ratings for both.

Across the district, local people have more access to appointments with the number of GP appointments increasing by 6.5% from pre-pandemic levels. GP Care Wakefield, the district’s out of hours service, supports practices and provides an additional 9,000 appointments every month outside of practice opening hours and during weekends and bank holidays. The service receives a large number of responses and positive feedback, with 89% of respondents saying they would recommend the service.

To read the full GP Patient Survey report and to see how your local practice performed visit www.gp-patient.co.uk/surveysandreports