'Considerable improvement' in GP access and satisfaction over past year, data shows

The Government has praised ‘hard-working’ GPs after new data showed more patients are describing their GP experience as ‘good’ compared to a year ago.

It pointed to the latest Office for National Statistics figures on experiences of local GP services, published yesterday, which analyse data from the Health Insight Survey commissioned by NHS England.

The Government said that the data shows ‘considerable improvement’ with regards to GP access and satisfaction over the last year.

It showed that 73.6% of patients are describing their GP experience as ‘good’, up 6.2% since July last year.

In terms of GP access, 74.2% of patients said they find it ‘easy’ to make contact with their GP practice, an increase of 13.3%.

And 19.4% of people said that the service provided by their GP has got ‘better’ in the last 12 months, a 4.5% increase since this time last year.

Earlier this month, NHS data showed that GP teams in England delivered seven million more appointments in the past year amidst rising levels of patient satisfaction.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said: ‘Thanks to the investment and reform this government has made, along with the support of our hard-working GPs, patients are getting a better service.

‘We’ve already recruited 2,000 additional GPs, and scrapped half of GPs targets to stop them being bogged down in bureaucracy.

‘Through our Plan for Change, we will roll out the latest tech to end the 8am scramble and free up GPs from time-consuming paperwork, to fix the front door to the NHS.’

It comes after Mr Streeting wrote to all GP practices in England at the beginning of this week, thanking them for their ‘tireless efforts’ and reaffirming the Government’s commitment to the partnership model and a new GP contract.

The letter pointed to earlier Office for National Statistics data showing improvement in patient satisfaction as well as the 2025 GP patient survey showing an increase in satisfaction over the last year.