New data has shown a small spike in the number of people feeling positive about their GP care, according to findings of the 2015/16 patient survey.
Of more than 800,000 people responding to the survey, just over 85 percent rated their overall experience of their GP surgery as good, inching up 0.4 percentage points over the prior year’s result.
The survey also found that almost four in five patients would recommend their GP surgery to someone who has just moved to the local area (+0.5 percentage point), more than 73 percent rated their overall experience of making an appointment as good (+0.1 percentage point), and 75.9 percent are satisfied with the hours their surgery is open (+ 1 percentage point).
On the down side, of those who have a preferred GP, 58.4 percent reporting seeing or speaking to them a lot of the time, almost always or always, marking a drop of 1.2 percentage points from 2014-15, while there was also a drop in the number of patients with one or more long-standing health conditions saying they had enough support from local services or organisations.
“The GP Patient Survey shows patients appreciate the fantastic job GPs and the wider primary care work force are doing in challenging times,” said Dr Arvind Madan, Director of Primary Care for NHS England. “The findings also reinforce the case for investing in and strengthening primary care, exactly as we are now doing”.
The government has promised to an invest an extra £2.4 billion a year by 2020/21 to help support primary care services, which will be used to help better manage demand and expand the workforce.
