A recent patient satisfaction survey conducted among local GP surgeries in Street and Glastonbury has yielded diverse results.

While some aspects of the service received high approval ratings, others areas reflected opportunities for improvement, demonstrating the varying perceptions of healthcare services in the community.

The GP practices surveyed were Glastonbury Health Centre, Glastonbury Surgery, and Vine Surgery Partnership in Street The figures show that 73% of Somerset patients who participated in the survey reported having a good or very good overall experience with their GP practices.

Glastonbury Health Centre scored highly on phone accessibility, with 79% of its patients finding it easy to get through by phone, significantly higher than the national average of 50%. Furthermore, 95% of patients found the practice's receptionists to be helpful, surpassing the national average of 82%.

On the other hand, Glastonbury Surgery received a lower score for phone accessibility at 27%, while 83% of patients found their receptionists to be helpful.

Vine Surgery Partnership's patients gave a mixed reaction, with 65% finding it easy to get through by phone and 88% finding the receptionists to be helpful.

Patient satisfaction with appointment times varied across the surgeries, with 55% of Glastonbury Health Centre patients, 46% at Glastonbury Surgery, and 62% at Vine Surgery Partnership expressing their satisfaction, while the national average stands at 53%.

Glastonbury Health Centre achieved the highest score of the three for patient-doctor interactions, with 70% of patients being offered a choice of appointment. Meanwhile, Vine Surgery Partnership scored 63% and Glastonbury Surgery trailed at 58%.

Healthcare professionals' interaction scores were above the national average at all three practices. Glastonbury Health Centre topped the chart with 95% of patients saying that the professional gave them enough time during their appointment. Glastonbury Surgery and Vine Surgery Partnership followed closely with 87% and 86% respectively.

A significant highlight of the survey is healthcare professionals' recognition of mental health needs. Glastonbury Surgery led this category with 93%, followed by Glastonbury Health Centre at 91% and Vine Surgery Partnership at 78%.

However, regarding the support received from local services to manage long-term conditions, all three surgeries scored below the national average, signifying an area requiring further attention.

Glastonbury Health Centre received the highest satisfaction rate of 89%, followed by Vine Surgery Partnership at 83%, and Glastonbury Surgery at 71%.

A spokesperson for NHS Somerset said: "We welcome the results of the GP Patient Survey which found that 73% of patients report a good or very good overall experience with their GP practice in Somerset, which is in line with the national average.

"In Somerset out of the 600,000 patients registered at our 62 practices, 7,757 responses were received to the GP Patient Survey.

"The results from the GP Patient Survey are one of a number data sources we use to better understand the experiences of patients accessing General Practice in Somerset.

"GP teams in Somerset are delivering around 300,000 appointments a month and over 313 additional General Practice staff have been recruited in Somerset since 2019 to ensure more patients are seen by the right health professional as quickly as possible.

"We work with GP Practices and the wider health and care system in Somerset to continuously improve access to general practice and experience of care for our population.

"This includes investing in additional training and support for practice staff, in technology such as improved phone systems and increasing use of community pharmacy and other health professionals to make it easier for people in Somerset to access General Practice".