NHS urged to help GP surgeries in Telford & Wrekin 'without delay'

A recent NHS England’s GP Survey asked residents to rate their experience with their GP practice.

The results revealed that some patients in the borough are having trouble getting through to their doctors on the phone.

Patients also highlighted a negative experience in making appointments at some surgeries, while others were unsatisfied with appointment times.

Another issues highlighted by some patients in Telford & Wrekin was that they were not seeing their preferred GP or doctor often.

Wellington Medical Practice came out bottom in the borough with an overall satisfaction rating of 42 per cent. Charlton Medical Centre (45 per cent overall rating) and The Health Centre in Donnington (49 per cent) also scored poorly.

Councillor Paul Watling, Telford & Wrekin Council's cabinet member for adult social care and health systems, has urged the NHS to support doctors where patients are not satisfied.

“Over the last years we have been actively telling the NHS that residents are concerned about how difficult it is to see a GP,” said Councillor Watling.

“Our efforts in raising these concerns with the NHS have led to a number of improvements in GP services.

“People in some areas of the borough told us it’s still difficult for them to get through on the phone with a GP, to get an appointment at a preferred time or that they have low confidence in the doctor they saw.

“We know GPs are working very hard and that they are dealing with a high demand and we continue to work to provide services to help reduce the pressures on the GPs.

“As a council on the side of our residents, we want them to have the best possible services at every GP in the borough, not just at some.

“That’s why we are urging the NHS to support GP practices that our residents are not satisfied with to improve their services without delay.”

The council wants to ‘further understand’ how people feel about their local doctors, and Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin is currently running a survey on its website.

Councillor Watling is urging people to share their experiences and asks residents to rate how easy it is to access their services.

“All feedback counts,” he added Councillor Watling. “We will continue to tirelessly demand the best GP services for our residents, regardless of the area they live in.”

At the opposite end of the survey The Surgery in Newport and Court Street Medical Practice in Madeley came out top with overall satisfaction ratings of 85 per cent and 83 per cent respectively.

Simon Fogell, chief executive officer at Healthwatch Telford and Wrekin said that the local survey will help tackle inequalities in accessing healthcare services.

He added: “While we welcome the results of the latest NHS England survey, with a number of local GPs ranking at the top in terms of the overall residents’ satisfaction, there are still issues with GPs in some local communities.

“For instance, some people are frustrated at the length of time they’re waiting on a telephone to speak to a GP or to get a face-to-face appointment.

“We are now collecting all these experiences in a local survey. This survey helps us better understand how people living in different parts of the borough experience their local GP services and supports our work with the NHS in tackling inequalities in accessing healthcare services.”