THE best and worst GP surgeries in north Essex have been revealed after thousands of patients were asked to share their views and experiences of their local practices.

Suffolk and North Essex Integrated Care Service surgeries in the likes of Clacton, Colchester, Harwich and Manningtree have been ranked following a survey.

In total 10,919 questionnaires were sent out to patients who use the 33 practices, but only 3,911 completed forms were returned to those who conducted the research.

The results of the 2022 NHS Patient Survey, which is carried out every year, give an insight into what aspects of patient support each surgery does well and not so well.

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Those who participate in the survey are quizzed on everything from how easy it is to make an appointment to the likelihood of getting through on the phone.

The main question, however, asks patients to rate how satisfied they are with the overall experience their surgery is able to offer.

The responses are then graded by the percentage of people who said the practice was at least ‘good’, resulting in a list detailing the best and worst.

In north Essex, the top five are Great Bentley Surgery, Ardleigh Surgery, the Walton Medical Centre, St James Surgery in Clacton and Colchester’s Mill Road Surgery.

For each of these, at least 86 per cent of patients who took part in the survey considered their overall experience of the practices to be ‘good’.

Other high rankers include Harewood Surgery, in Harwich, Lawford Surgery, Colne Medical Centre, in Brightlingsea, and Ranworth Surgery in Clacton.

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The worst ranked surgery, however, with a satisfaction rating of just 39 per cent, is North Clacton Medical Practice,

The Mayflower Medical Centre is also not held in high regard, with 43 percent, while the third worst is Colchester’s Ambrose Avenue Group Practice, with 44 per cent.

Helen Mouncher, practice manager at Ambrose Avenue Group Practice, said: "We were very disappointed to see the published results of the GP Patient Survey 2022 for Ambrose Avenue Group Practice, however, we do recognise and appreciate feedback from those who responded to the survey. 

"We have a large patient list of 15852 and this survey captured feedback from 0.7 per cent of our patient list. 

"We have made significant improvements to our practice in the last twelve months since the last GP Patient Survey publication. 

"We are one of very few surgeries in Colchester where our Patient Participation Group (PPG) remained active and involved throughout the pandemic with us and they play a vitally important role in our services. 

"The NHS Friends and Family survey is also used within our practice and we focus all changes around improving clinical services to our patients. 

"We successfully launched our Open Access clinics back in October 2021 which runs every day during the week which has proven a popular addition to our practice.  

"It gives our patients more options to seek our services aside from our website, emails, and telephone system.  

"This has taken place during what we feel is the NHS’s biggest challenge in a time of recovery from a worldwide pandemic combined with significant GP staffing shortages across the UK. 

"We have made and continue to make significant improvements to training for all our staff and working hard on recruiting to our team.

"Our Ambrose Avenue workforce, who are based over two sites, continue to place all our patients at the heart of what we do and we are extremely passionate in improving access to healthcare for all our patients. 

"We will learn from this feedback, especially around our telephone access and plan to implement positive changes for the future."

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Overall, the percentage of patients who are satisfied with their GP was 77 percent, higher than the national average of 72 per cent.

Dr Ed Garratt, chief officer at Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, said: “This is an incredibly positive achievement for all the staff working in GP practices across the area as well as their patient groups who provide valuable advice and support.

"I want to thank them for all their great work, they should be incredibly pleased that we are performing better than the national average on all metrics.”