Beccy Baird, Senior Fellow at The King's Fund, responded to the GP Patient Survey
‘For many people, the front door to the NHS feels hard to unlock, and voters have been telling politicians and pollsters that getting a GP appointment was high on their list of concerns. But there are glimmers of hope in this year's survey of around 700,000 patients.
‘Despite planned changes to the survey that make it hard to compare with previous years, it does seem as though patient's overall satisfaction with their GP practice has slightly improved, with 74% of patients reporting that their overall experience of their GP practice was good.
‘GP practices are delivering more appointments each day than ever before, but the sheer scale of demand is clearly impacting patient's ability to get an appointment. Despite recent efforts to make it more straightforward for patients to book an appointment, less than half of patients found it easy to contact their practice via phone, app or website, and more than a third (34%) said they had to wait too long for their appointment. There is clearly still much to be done to support practices to improve access.
‘But staff working in general practice should take heart that patients are satisfied with the quality of services they receive when they do get an appointment. In a new question, 83% of patients reported that they found their GP receptionist helpful or very helpful, and 92% said they had confidence and trust in the health care professional at their last appointment.
‘The new Health and Care Secretary's first visit this week was to a GP practice, signalling that this government will put community and primary care at the heart of its efforts to improve health and care services.
‘Refocusing the health and care system to prioritise timely and good-quality primary and community care will improve the support patients receive and help ensure the NHS is sustainable in the long term. Achieving this welcome goal will require a clear and co-ordinated vision, with funding, staff and political energy directed at GP practice, pharmacy, community services and social care.'
Notes to editors
The publication of the 2024 survey results is the start of a new time series for GPPS. This means that trend data for previous years of the survey is not presented alongside the 2024 results as it would normally be, as the questionnaire has been updated.
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The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. We help to shape policy and practice through research and analysis; develop individuals, teams and organisations; promote understanding of the health and social care system; and bring people together to learn, share knowledge and debate. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.