Although, Temple Cowley surgery has said it is unhappy with its poor feedback in the latest 2026 GP Patient Survey for NHS England (released this week) it added that there are mitigating circumstances.
The second-lowest ranked Oxfordshire GP surgery and the lowest ranked – Luther Street Medical Practice – have both said the low data sample contributed to their scores.
The low uptake, they say, is related to the “deprivation” of many of their patients.
READ MORE: Best and worst performing Oxfordshire GP surgeries revealed by NHS
In the survey results, which were released this week, the public gave their views of the ‘overall experience’ of their local GP surgery, ranking them very good, fairly good, neither good nor poor, fairly poor and very poor.
Almost 3 million surveys were distributed by market research agency Ipsos with around 650,000 responses received in England between January and April.
Temple Cowley Surgery (Image: Google Maps)
On average 46 per cent of people gave their GP the highest grade, while only 4 per cent gave their GP the lowest.
Technically the worst performing GP surgery in Oxfordshire was Luther Street Medical Practice in Oxford with 14 per cent of respondents calling it very poor.
However only 4 per cent of its patients asked filled in the survey with 55 per cent of them in fact giving it the highest grade, above the national average.
A spokesperson explained how the GP surgery provides healthcare to “unique” patients experiencing homelessness in Oxford City.
The team in 2017 at Luther Street Medical Centre (Image: NQ)
They said: “The Luther Street team provides non-judgemental care, recognising the impact of homelessness and complex life experiences on its patients.
“It provides continuity of care, flexible appointments and will be providing outreach clinics, while offering practical support, along with addiction and mental health services.
“Our patients are a unique and often vulnerable population who, like everyone else, require access to regular GP services and ongoing healthcare support.
“Many also face additional challenges that can make accessing and engaging with healthcare more difficult.”
Luther Street Medical Practice (Image: Google Maps)
Temple Cowley also said there was a lack of engagement with the survey, after 13 per cent of respondents called the practice very poor.
The survey states that around 23 per cent of those asked about the surgery responded representing a data pool of 110 people.
“We are of course disappointed by the headline figures from this year’s GP Patient Survey,” a spokesperson said.
They added: “However, it is important to note that only around 1 per cent of our registered patient population responded.
Wychwood Surgery in Shipton-under-Wychwood (Image: Google Maps)
“While every piece of feedback matters to us, such a small sample does not provide a reliable reflection of the experience of the thousands of patients we support every week.”
Furthermore it was explained that Temple Cowley Surgery serves a community “with significant levels of deprivation”, with demand rising, workforce pressures and growing patient need all impacting its service.
The spokesperson added: “We are committed to improving access, communication and continuity of care, and we already have work underway to strengthen our appointment triage processes, expand our multidisciplinary team, and increase the support available for patients with complex needs.
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“We will continue to listen to feedback and use it to guide our improvement plans.”
In Oxfordshire the best performing GP surgery was Wychwood in Shipton-under-Wychwood, with 90 per cent of respondents rating it very good and none giving it a fairly or very poor rating.
Berinsfield Health Centre near Wallingford also performed well with an 88 per cent very good rating as did Cropredy Surgery on 86 per cent and Sibford on 85 per cent.
The Bell and Islip both received 80 per cent very good ratings.