Satisfaction for GP services in South Tyneside beats national average

The latest NHS England patient survey showed that GP Practices in South Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) areas were performing better than the national average.

The GP Patient Survey was carried out independently by Ipsos MORI and measures patients’ experiences across a range of topics, including; ease of contacting GP practices, perception of care at appointments, managing health conditions, practice opening hours as well as overall satisfaction and experience.

Key findings from this year’s survey include:

86% of patients described their overall GP practice experience as good – 2% above the national average

76% of patients said it was easy to get through to someone at their GP practice on the phone – 6% above the national average

91% of patients said that they find the receptionists at their practice helpful – the national figure is 90%

Nationally 2.2m surveys were issued to adults registered with an English GP practice.

Dr Jon Tose, clinical diirector and GP for planned care at South Tyneside CCG, has welcomed the positive indication of patient satisfaction.

He said: “These results are encouraging; they show that despite the challenges facing primary care, our GPs and practice staff are still delivering high quality services.

“While we can be proud of these results, we recognise that there are areas for improvement. This is something that the CCG will be working on with GPs and staff at the 22 GP practices in South Tyneside.”

South Tyneside CCG represents 22 GP practices in South Tyneside and is responsible for buying and planning most health services across the borough.