Wandsworth’s best and worst GP surgeries in 2017, as voted for by patients, have been revealed.

The results come from an annual England-wide survey, run by NHS England and Ipsos MORI, that reviews patients’ experiences.

It rates a range of topics including making appointment, waiting times, perceptions of care at appointments, opening hours and out-of-hours service.

The results, published in July, represent 4,231 responses from Wandsworth residents.

Thurleigh Road Practice came out on top, with 97 per cent of patients believing the GP to be good or better.

Balham Hill Medical Practice was the lowest ranked at 73 per cent.

A further 26 GPs were above the national average of 85, including Queenstown Road Medical Practice, Battersea Rise Group Practice, Earlsfield Surgery, Tooting Bec Surgery, Tooting South Medical Centre, The Haider Practice, The Falcon Road Medical Centre, The Alton Practice, Chatfield Medical Centre, Brocklebank Group Practice, Streatham Park Surgery, Balham Park Surgery, Begg Pratice, Mayfield Surgery, Elborough Street Surgery, Open Door Surgery, Balham Health Centre, Dr Kooner and Partners, The Roehampton Surgery, The Greyswood Practice, Chartfield Surgery, St Paul’s Cottage Practice, Tudor Lodge Health Centre, The Heathbridge Practice, Danebury Avenue Surgery, and Lavender Hill Group Practice.

Wandsworth scored an average satisfaction rating of 86 per cent, down from last year's results of 88 per cent.

Overall, 43 per cent found the GPs in Wandsworth to be very good, 43 per cent said fairly good, 10 per cent said neither good nor poor, three per cent said poor, and one per cent said very poor.

Patients’ experience of waiting times appears to have improved since last year with 61 per cent saying they did “not wait too long”, compared to 59 last year.

Tooting Bec Surgery had the best patient satisfaction with waiting times with 87 per cent not waiting too long compared to an abysmal 33 per cent at Balham Health Centre.

This year patients found it more difficult to get GPs on the phone, with 70 per cent finding it easy down from 75 in 2016.

Tudor Lodge Health Centre’s reception was found to be the most helpful, with a score of 97 per cent, compared to the least helpful Battersea Rise Group Practice at 74.

Patients at Balham Health Centre were the most successful at getting an appointment with 99 of patients securing one compared to the lowest of 71 per cent at Tooting South Medical Centre.

Thurleigh Road Practice, who had the best rating overall, fears its score may not be secured next year.

Practice manager Barbara Veloso said: “The result is down to the clinical team.

“It will be hard to keep this score given the financial restraints we are under.

“We have a difficult, tough road ahead. They have cut our services by 17 percent and there’s another review in place.

“It will be a difficult act to follow next year. We’ve already had to cut some services, the waiting list is longer and we can’t take as many appointments.”

James Blythe, Managing Director - Merton and Wandsworth CCGs said:

“GP patient experience scores are an important indicator of how well practices are performing against patients’ expectations.

“GP practices provide the main first point of contact for patients accessing healthcare through the NHS, so I am pleased that 84 per cent of respondents would recommend their Wandsworth GP to someone just moved in to the area and that 86 per cent of patients rated their overall experience of their GP surgery as good.

“The NHS Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group is a commissioner of GP practice services and works hard with practices every day to improve quality, access and the range of services offered at practice level.

“These results are a reflection of the hard work and dedication of all staff at our GP practices. We have ambitious plans for primary care and will be working closely with our GP practices to make further improvements.”

The survey has limitations such as sample sizes, a lack of qualitative data and the information is provided yearly rather than in real time.

For example, in NHS Wandsworth CCG, 15,115 questionnaires were sent out, and 4,231 were returned completed which represents a response rate of 28 per cent.

To see the full results go here.

The overall patient satisfaction ratings for Wandsworth’s GP practices from worst to best were:

Balham Hill Medical Practice 73 per cent

The Practice Furzedown 73 per cent

Grafton Medical Partners 74 per cent

Inner Park Road Health Centre 75 per cent

The Junction Centre 77 per cent

Trinity Medical Centre 78 per cent

Bridge Lane Group Practice 79 per cent

Battersea Fields Practice 79 per cent

Putneymead Group Medical Practice 80 per cent

Bedford Hill Family Practice 81 per cent

Clapham Junction Medical Practice 83 per cent

Triangle Surgery 84 per cent

Wandsworth Medical Centre 85 per cent

Bolingbroke Medical Centre 85 per cent

Queenstown Road Medical Practice 86 per cent

Battersea Rise Group Practice 86 per cent

Earlsfield Surgery 87 per cent

Tooting Bec Surgery 87 per cent

Tooting South Medical Centre 87 per cent

The Haider Practice 88 per cent

The Falcon Road Medical Centre 89 per cent

The Alton Practice 89 per cent

Chatfield Medical Centre 90 per cent

Brocklebank Group Practice 90 per cent

Streatham Park Surgery 90 per cent

Balham Park Surgery 90 per cent

Begg Pratice 90 per cent

Mayfield Surgery 91 per cent

Elborough Street Surgery 91 per cent

Open Door Surgery 91 per cent

Balham Health Centre 92 per cent

Dr Kooner and Partners 93 per cent

The Roehampton Surgery 93 per cent

The Greyswood Practice 93 per cent

Chartfield Surgery 93 per cent

St Paul’s Cottage Practice 94 per cent

Tudor Lodge Health Centre 94 per cent

The Heathbridge Practice 95 per cent

Danebury Avenue Surgery 95 per cent

Lavender Hill Group Practice 95 per cent

Thurleigh Road Practice 97 per cent