PATIENTS at GP surgeries across north east Essex rank their practices among the worst in the country, a survey has revealed.

A survey of 4,240 patients across 38 surgeries in the region, which includes Colchester and Tendring, found 79 per cent rated their surgery as fairly good or good.

This stacks up poorly when compared to the national average, which shows that 84 per cent of respondents found their practice to be good.

Around 9 per cent of all north east Essex patients who responded rated their surgery as fairly poor or very poor.

Clacton’s East Lynne Medical Centre was voted the worst of the 38 surgeries polled, with just 47 per cent rating the surgery as ‘good’.

The best in north east Essex was found to be Mill Road Surgery, in Colchester, with 99 per cent of respondents giving the practice a thumbs up.

Around 10,000 questionnaires were sent out to patients across the region, meaning the survey had a 42 per cent response rate.

The result means the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group falls significantly below the average approval ratings and some way off its previous 86 per cent average, achieved five years ago.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the Royal College of GPs, highlighted the grim picture for general practice across the country.

“GPs and our teams are performing well, in the best interests of patients, in incredibly difficult circumstances,” she said.

“Our workload has escalated in recent years, both in volume and complexity, but the share of the NHS budget our service receives is less than it was a decade ago, and GP numbers are falling.

“But patients are waiting too long for a GP appointment and too many are not getting an appointment when they want one.

“As well as being frustrating for patients and GPs, this means patients might not be getting the treatment they need in the early stages of their condition.

“The plain truth is that existing GPs and our teams are working to absolute capacity and we just don’t have enough GPs to offer enough appointments.”

A spokesman for the North East Essex CCG said: "We really value the data provided by the annual GP Patient Survey – it enables us to look closely at where our practices are doing well and where we could offer more support. 

"We’re not far off the national average for the majority of the indicators and we’re proud of the practices that are exceling in areas such as managing patients’ conditions and appointment choice. 

"It’s also great to see the number of practices considered 'very good' has increased from last year.”

Here's the table in full, showing the percentage of respondents who rated their surgery as 'good'. 

Mill Road Surgery 99%
Harewood Surgery 98%
Ardleigh Surgery 97%
Lawford Surgery 96%
Colne Medical Centre 95%
Thorpe Surgery 94%
East Hill 91%
Great Bentley 91%
West Mersea Surgery 91%
Riverside Health Centre 90%
Bluebell Surgery 90% 
Rowhedge Surgery 89%
Highwoods Surgery 87% 
North Hill Medical Group 87%
Ranworth Surgery 86%
Layer Road Surgery 85%
Wivenhoe Surgery 85%
St James Surgery 84%
North Colchester Healthcare Centre 82%
Tollgate Health Centre 82%
Parsons Heath Medical Centre 82%
Creffield Medical Centre 81%
Colchester Medical Practice 80%
Walton Medical Centre 80%
Green Elms Health Centre 76%
Ambrose Avenue Medical Group 75%
Mayflower Medical Centre 75%
Old Road Surgery 74%
Winstree Medical Practice 74%
Abbey Field Medical Centre 61%
Tiptree Medical Centre 49%
East Lynne Medical Centre 47%