ChronicleLive analysis shows that the majority of people are happy with their GP practice – but not all
00:18, 07 Apr 2026
File photo dated 10/09/14 of a GP checking a patient’s blood pressure. Fewer than 60% of GP appointments in England were conducted face-to-face last month, new figures show. Experimental data from NHS Digital, published on Thursday, shows 58% of appointments were carried out face-to-face in August, the first full month since most legal restrictions were lifted in England. Issue date: Thursday September 30, 2021. PA Photo. See PA story HEALTH GPs. Photo credit should read: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire (Image: PA)
Recently published figures analysed by ChronicleLive show that more than two-thirds of people in our area had a “good” or “very good” impression of their GP practice. But hundreds of others have raised concerns.
Every month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) runs its “health insights survey”. In it, data experts ask NHS patients what they think of the services they’ve just experienced. This provides a running snapshot of what people are finding when they see a doctor – or when they head for an appointment with a community service.
In just over three weeks in February, more than 88,000 people responded to the survey – with 13,322 of those people across the North East and Yorkshire. Overwhelmingly, those people reported positive experiences.
There’s a mountain of data available – for this article ChronicleLive decided to focus on three questions answered by thousands of you: What was an NHS patient’s experience of going to the GP like? Did they think their GP practice had improved – or not – over the last twelve months? And for those who had another kind of NHS appointment in the community, such as a with a district nurse, physio, or rehabilitation service, what was that like?
This comes as the Government continues its push to offer more NHS care in our communities, and away from hospital settings. The idea, ministers have said, is to reduce the barriers that might stop people accessing care.
As part of this, new neighbourhood health centres are to be set up – and last week it was announced that one of the first of these centres will be in Seaham. The hope is that a range of services, from seeing a GP to getting addiction support or even employment advice, will be available in the same place, from 8am to 8pm.
At the time, Dr Faisel Baig, a GP and medical director for NHS North East and Yorkshire said: “The intention is neighbourhood health centres will be seen as the place to go for many health needs in every community. They will make it easier for people from all communities to access more joined up care closer to home.
“By bringing GP services together, we can help people to get the right care more quickly, close to home, while avoiding unnecessary trips to hospital. We are bringing care to them with a wider range of more tailored support.”
The survey is just one way of gauging public opinion – other bodies including the Care Quality Commission and the NHS itself conduct their own research regularly, while it is important to recognise the caveat that this relates to those asked between February 3 and February 25 this year, during the height of NHS winter pressures.
What did thousands think of their GP?
In short, the vast majority of people to respond to the survey in the North East and Yorkshire were pleased with their GP’s service. 72.9% – from a total of 6,745 people to answer the question – said their impression had been either “good” or “very good”.
But there remains a substantial number of people who told those asking the questions they were less than satisfied. 16.5% said their impression had been “neither good nor poor”, but more than 10% of people said they had a “poor” or “very poor” time.
By comparison to the rest of the country, this was better than some other regions, but worse than those receiving the best feedback.
Notably though, more of those to respond think their GP practice is getting better than think it is getting worse. In our area, more than one in five people think their practice is on the up – almost double the proportion (11.1%) who think things are worsening. A small percentage have not recently attended their GP practice.
Again, this falls broadly between the best and worst performing areas of the country. People living in the North West and in London seem most satisfied with the trajectory on which their GPs’ surgery is moving.
What about community services?
NHS community services are becoming a bigger and more noticeable part of the health service. This could mean physio or respiratory support, or it could mean you’ve seen a district nurse in recent weeks. Again, the ONS asks patients what they thought of their last appointment.
Across the North East and Yorkshire, 1,717 people answered a question about their experience. The majority – 340 – had seen physios, but this also encompasses a wide range of support.
This includes podiatry appointments, weight management, cardiac services and diabetes services. Broken down by service – and allowing for the small numbers of those to respond, notably popular services include podiatry (95.5% said this was good) and respiratory services (where 91.8% reacted positively).
What does the Government want to see?
The Labour Government has made “three shifts” central to policy. Ministers want to offer more care in community settings and reduce the burden on hospitals. The theory is that this will make it easier for thousands to access care that keeps them healthier for longer.
In late March, a separate survey – The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust’s British Social Attitudes survey – showed a 5.6% increase in wider satisfaction in the NHS, which was something the Government highlighted as the first increase since the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, Wes Streeting, Health Secretary said: “When this government came to office, I said that, while the NHS was broken, it wasn’t beaten. Patients are beginning to feel the change and the NHS is showing that things can get better.
“The biggest drop in dissatisfaction since 1998 doesn’t happen by accident. It is thanks to the government’s investment and modernisation- all of which has been hard fought but is now delivering results.”
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