GP practices in Verwood, Ringwood and Fordingbridge were generally rated better than the national average for overall patient experience according to an annual patient survey.

Participants in the 2021 GP Patient Survey carried out by Ipsos MORI for NHS England were asked a variety of questions about their experience at their local practice.

For example, how easy was it for them to get through to their GP practice by phone, whether they had trust in the professional they saw or spoke to during their last appointment, and how they would rate their overall experience.

Verwood Surgery was the highest rated GP practice for overall experience with 92% of 152 residents surveyed having a good experience, which is much higher than the national average of 83%.

An impressive 99% of residents found it easy to reach their GP by phone which is higher than the national average of 68%, and 99% had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional that they spoke to.

On The Verwood Surgery’s NHS site, there are seven five-star reviews of the surgery all praising the quality of the GP practice.

One reads: “Despite the terrible press that GP services are getting at the moment, Verwood Surgery is leading the way in adapting to these very difficult times.

“When we have needed to use their services over the last year we have always been able to get to see a GP when the need arose. Well done to everyone at the Practice!”

Ringwood Medical Centre and Cornerways Medical Centre were in joint second place with an overall experience rating of 88%.

Patients at Cornerways Medical Centre found it easier to reach a GP by the phone than patients at Ringwood Medical Centre with 75% of Cornerways patients finding it at least fairly easy compared to only 67% of patients at Ringwood.

Both practices were tied again in terms of 98% percent of patients having confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw at their last appointment.

Fordingbridge Surgery had the lowest overall experience rating with only 75% of patients surveyed having a good experience which is below the national and local average of 83%.

Only 46% of patients found it at least fairly easy to get through to this GP practice by the phone, only 6% of this figure finding it very easy.

Of the 149 patients surveyed, 96% of patients had confidence in the GP they saw at their last appointment which meets the national average.

On The Fordingbridge Surgery’s NHS page, there are 32 mixed reviews giving it a 3-star rating on average, most patients rating the surgery five stars but the amount of 1-star ratings bringing this average down.

A commenter named Mike Jones posted a 5-star review saying: “Have had to visit this Practice a number of times in past 40 years. Have seen a number of different doctors all have done their very best to help.

“A big thank you to all helpers who have given up their time to help with organizing the Covid jab and Drive through blood tests.”

It is worth remembering that these surveys only represent a small fraction of the patients at each of these surgeries.

The Cranborne Practice in Wimborne which serves patients in Verwood too had the best experience rating in this area with 95% of patients describing their overall experience of this GP practice as good or very good, scoring above average on all survey metrics.

It was found that 82% of survey participants found it easy to get through to this GP by phone, and 99% of patients had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to at their last GP appointment.

The other GP surgeries in Wimborne, Quarterjack Surgery, Walford Mill Medical Centre, and The Old Dispensary all scored above 90% in overall good experience ratings with the first achieving 91%, and the latter two both achieving 94%. 

To search your local practice and find out all of the survey data use this NHS website.

Overall good experience ratings per practice from best to worst:

The Cranborne Practice: 95%

Walford Mill Medical Centre: 94%

The Old Dispensary: 94%

The Verwood Surgery: 92%

Quarterjack Surgery: 91%

Ringwood Medical Centre: 88%

Cornerways Medical Centre: 88%

Fordingbridge Surgery: 75%

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