HALF of patients at a Maldon doctor’s surgery are unhappy with the time they have to wait to see a GP, latest figures have revealed.

The Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), released the latest figures for the GP Patient Survey showing how satisfied patients are with aspects of their surgery.

Blackwater Medical Centre in Princes Road fell below the national and regional average in areas including waiting times and the experience of making an appointment.

In total 56 per cent of patients at the surgery said they were unhappy with the amount of time they have to wait to see their GP, and only 50 per cent said they had a good experience making an appointment.

Trevor Fernandes, chair of the Blackwater Patients Participation Group, said: “Our practice is undergoing difficulties, and whilst the GP resilience fund has allowed addition - al resources, we are still operating a closed list.

“We have only just taken on a new GP, although they won’t be productive for another six months. As a result, the patient participation group is carrying out a long term campaign to reduce missed appointments and promote online appointments.”

Longfield Medical Centre was the best performing surgery in the district. It scored around or above the national average in areas including confidence in GPs and waiting times.

Longfield practice manager, David Barker, said: “We are always striving to improve the service we offer. We find it increasingly difficult to manage the shortage of parking space that we are able to offer, as members of the public abuse our car park by parking all day to visit the town or go to work. This results in us running late as GPs can’t park when returning from visits and patients can’t access a space to attend their appointment.”

The Blackwater Medical Centre was contacted for comment.

PATIENTS have rated Burnham Surgery as the worst GP practice in Mid Essex for appointment waiting times, latest figures have revealed.  
Only 28 per cent of patients at the surgery said they were satisfied with the amount of time they have to wait to see their GP, the lowest in the region.
The figures are shown in the latest GP Patient Survey carried out by Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which asked more than 11,000 people about their experiences with surgeries in Essex.
Burnham Surgery scored consistently below the national average in all of the areas covered.
The 28 per cent approval for waiting times was well below the national average of 58 per cent.
It was the second worst performing surgery in the region when it came to overall approval.
Just 60 per cent of patients said they had a good experience at the surgery, lower than the national average of 85 per cent.
The surgery also scored low when it came to getting and booking appointments and the helpfulness of receptionists.
In May last year, Burnham Surgery, which serves 9,300 patients from its Foundry Lane base, was rated as “inadequate” by the Care Quality Commission.
In March it was confirmed that the surgery had completed a miraculous turnaround and escaped special measures following an inspection in January.
Practice Manager Jane Walsh said: “The survey is out of date with the recent feedback we have been getting.
“The surgery previously had five permanent GP/Partners who looked after the patients on our list we are now down to two, with over 8,000 patients to care for between them. It has not been through lack of trying that we have been unable to recruit more doctors. We try our hardest to help those most in need where we can.
“Also our appointment system struggles with patients who do not attend appointments that they themselves have booked. Some patients actually book an appointment in the morning for the same day and still do not turn up.
“Over the month of June 2017 we lost 311 appointments through people not turning up. This then equates to the surgery being shut for nearly two weeks over the course of a year.”