THE 'best and worst' GP surgeries in the city according to patients have been revealed as part of an annual NHS survey.

St Martin’s Gate Surgery in Newtown Road in Worcester was ranked as the best taking the highest marks for overall experience as well as having some of the most helpful staff and for being one of the easiest surgeries to get through to.

St John’s House Medical Centre scored the lowest for overall experience with only two-thirds saying they had a good experience.

The figures come from the NHS’s annual GP Patient Survey which reveals how Worcester’s doctor’s surgeries were rated between January and March – just weeks before the city went into lockdown because of the coronavirus.

Residents were asked for their opinion on a variety of elements with practices, from booking appointments, waiting times, out-of-hours services and the quality of care given.

The scores for St Martin’s Gate Surgery also placed it in the top 10 for all of Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Scores for overall experience (% of respondents rating good or very good)

  1. St Martin’s Gate (96%)
  2. Spring Gardens (92%)
  3. Thorneloe Lodge (90%)
  4. Haresfield House (83%)
  5. Albany House (81%)
  6. Farrier House (80%)
  7. Severn Valley (80%)
  8. Barbourne Medical Centre (80%)
  9. Elbury Moor (70%)
  10. St John’s House (66%)

 

More than 96 per cent of patients who filled out the survey said they had a ‘good’ experience at the Newtown Road surgery with two-thirds of respondents saying they had a ‘very good’ experience.

St Martin’s Gate Surgery was also the easiest to get through to with 86 per cent of people saying it was ‘easy’ compared to 78 per cent at Farrier House Surgery and Spring Gardens Medical Practice and 64 per cent at Thorneloe Lodge Surgery in Barbourne Road.

The hardest surgery to get through to was St John’s House where less than one in three said it was easy to get hold of the surgery over the phone.

The results of the survey showed 98 per cent of respondents said Spring Gardens Medical Practice had the most helpful receptionists followed by 94 per cent St Martin’s Gate Surgery and 93 per cent at Haresfield House Surgery in Newtown Road.

A total of 89 per cent of respondents said Thorneloe Lodge Surgery had helpful receptionists and 88 per cent said staff at Barbourne Health Centre were helpful.

It was positive for every surgery in the helpful receptionist category with all scoring 82 per cent or more.

The results of the survey showed patients at St Martin’s Gate Surgery were most satisfied with booking a doctor’s appointment with 81 per cent saying they a ‘good’ experience followed by 79 per cent Farrier House Surgery, 76 per cent at Spring Gardens Medical Practice, 72 per cent at Thorneloe Lodge Surgery and 70 per cent at Haresfield House.

Just under half of respondents at Barbourne Health Centre said the experience was not good.

All respondents said they continued to have ‘trust and confidence’ in GPs based on their last appointment with every surgery scoring 91 per cent or above.

Spring Gardens had 100 per cent with St Martin’s Gate Surgery and Albany House Surgery scoring 99 per cent and Thorneloe Lodge Surgery and Horsefield House Surgery scoring 98 per cent. Overall practices in Worcester recorded an 82 per cent positive satisfaction rating on average – much higher than the national average of 65 per cent but slightly lower than the 87 per cent average for the CCG region of Worcestershire and Herefordshire.

Of the 1,370 who answered, 244 patients said they had to wait more than a week for an appointment at surgeries across the city with around half saying they secured an appointment on the same day.