Two-fifths struggle to contact their GP

More than 20 per cent of patients in Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire do not have a good experience of their family doctor, according to figures from the NHS.

On Tuesday, September 6, before entering Downing Street for the first time as Prime Minister Liz Truss promised to put the health service on a firm footing but a fifth of people locally have either a “fairly poor” or “very poor” experience of making an appointment.

Across the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care System (ICS), one in 10 people said they had a poor experience of their GP practice.

As part of the 2022 GP Patient Survey, 26,118 questionnaires were sent out to patients across the three regions, and 10,587 were returned completed – a response rate of 41 per cent.

Within the region two-fifths of people (41 per cent) said they had trouble getting through to their GP practice by telephone, with 23 per cent saying it was not very easy and another 19 per cent saying it was not at all easy, but some of the practices in the centre of Bath fared better.

More than 86 per cent of patients found it easy to get through to Widcombe Surgery whereas over a quarter of patients at Rush Hill said it was not very easy or not at all easy.

Only half of patients at Heart of Bath or the Pulteney Practice in Great Pulteney Street found it easy to get through by phone, whereas in Batheaston, 93 per cent got through to the medical centre easily.

When they got through, if they were able to make an appointment, more than one in four were not given a set time for that appointment.

In Bath, satisfaction varied significantly according to the specific surgery.

At Widcombe Surgery in Claverton Street, fewer than half of patients (45 per cent) were satisfied with the appointments available, whereas at St Michael’s Surgery in Twerton almost 60 per cent were satisfied.

Only half of patients at the Fairfield Park Health Centre usually got to see or speak to their preferred GP when they wanted to and it was even worse up on Combe Down (46 per cent) but patients were more satisfied at Newbridge Surgery where almost 60 per cent got to see their own GP.

Overall, 89 per cent of patients out in Batheaston described their experience of making an appointment as good, with 74 per cent at Fairfield Park and 70 per cent in Combe Down. Only half of Pulteney Practice patients had a good experience making an appointment.

Responding to the survey results, Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “Patients are finding it impossible to see their GP right now, with so many spending hours on the phone only to be told nothing is available for weeks.

“No wonder so many Bath and NE Somerset residents are frustrated. From record waiting lists to crumbling hospital roofs, from exhausted staff leaving in droves to the crisis we’re seeing in general practice right now, patients are paying the price of years of Tory neglect of our NHS.”

Bath’s MP Wera Hobhouse also felt she knew where to apportion blame.

“The Conservatives need to face up to the problem and take proper action to improve services across the country,” she said.

Meanwhile the new Prime Minister has appointed Therese Coffey as both Secretary of State for Health and Deputy Prime Minister.

To check the performance of your own doctor’s surgery, visit: www.gp-patient.co.uk

Patients are paying the price of years of Tory neglect of our NHS

Metro mayor Dan Norris