The majority of patients (71 per cent) had a good experience booking an appointment, according to the latest GP Patient Survey, produced by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England.
This is up from 65 per cent in the 2020 survey.
The issue of whether GPs are offering enough face-to-face appointments as Covid-19 restrictions ease remains hotly debated.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has now unveiled a £250m package for GPs in England to improve access to their services – but only if they increase the number of in-person consultations.
GP groups have responded angrily, accusing ministers of failing to grasp the scale of the staffing crisis affecting surgeries.
The patient survey contacted 2.4 million people from January to April of this year to gather information on how patients feel about their local GP service, and around a third of them responded.
They also shed light on people’s experiences of booking an appointment locally.
Here we reveal the Derbyshire CCG GP practices in north and mid-Derbyshire, covering the council areas of Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover, Amber Valley, Derbyshire Dales and Erewash, which were voted the worst to make an appointment at.
Surgeries are ranked by the proportion of patients who said their experience of booking an appointment was ‘very poor’.
1. Royal Primary Care West, Chesterfield
There were 309 survey forms sent out to patients at Royal Primary Care West. The response rate was 42.1 per cent. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 14.9 per cent said it was very poor and 17.8 per cent said it was fairly poor. Image for illustrative purposes only. Photo: Brian Eyre
2. Royal Primary Care East, Chesterfield
There were 349 survey forms sent out to patients at Royal Primary Care East. The response rate was 37.2 per cent. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 12.9 per cent said it was very poor and 16.5 per cent said it was fairly poor. Image for illustrative purposes only. Photo: MARISA_CASHILL
3. Royal Primary Care South, Chesterfield
There were 295 survey forms sent out to patients at Royal Primary Care South. The response rate was 45.1 per cent. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 12.8 per cent said it was very poor and 12.4 per cent said it was fairly poor. Image for illustrative purposes only. Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images. Photo: Christopher Furlong
4. Ivy Grove Surgery, Ripley
There were 263 survey forms sent out to patients at Ivy Grove Surgery. The response rate was 49 per cent. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 11.8 per cent said it was very poor and 14.4 per cent said it was fairly poor. Photo: Google