NORTHWICH’S best rated GP surgeries for 2022 have been revealed, according to the patients that use them.

The results of the GP Patient Survey 2022 show almost all surgeries’ overall approval ratings in the town have decreased in the past year, the most by 18 per cent.

The survey measures patients’ experiences across a range of topics, including making an appointment, if needs were met during appointments and trust in doctors.

Witton Street Surgery and Watling Street Surgery were both named the best surgeries in Northwich for 2022 according to patients, with overall approval ratings of 81 per cent.

However, both surgeries’ ratings were down on the 2021 results where Witton Street scored 88 per cent and Watling Street 86 per cent.

No other surgeries in Northwich had approval ratings above 80 per cent – the next highest being Middlewich Road Surgery with 79 per cent.

This is compared to five surgeries being above 80 per cent last year.

The national approval rating average across England for 2022 is 72 per cent – a considerable fall from 83 per cent last year, showing issues facing the health sector as a whole.

Weaverham Surgery was the only practice whose overall rating score increased, from 67 per cent to 69 per cent.

Practices' overall approval ratings are:

Witton Street Surgery: 81 per cent (88 per cent in 2021)

Watling Street Surgery: 81 per cent (86 per cent in 2021)

Middlewich Road Surgery: 79 per cent (85 per cent in 2021)

Firdale Medical Centre: 70 per cent (84 per cent in 2021)

Oakwood Medical Centre: 69 per cent (85 per cent in 2021)

Weaverham Surgery: 69 per cent (67 per cent in 2021)

Danebridge Medical Centre (including Sandiway and Kingsmead): 65 per cent (83 per cent in 2021)

In terms of getting through to surgeries via the phone, Weaverham Surgery came top, with 63 per cent of people saying it was ‘easy’.

This is compared with just 40 per cent at Watling Street – below the national average of 53 per cent.

Patients at Firdale Medical Centre rated their practice top for meeting their needs during appointments, with 96 per cent saying their needs were met.

Witton Street came bottom with 87 per cent – still above the national average of 81 per cent however.

Firdale also came top in another category - 100 per cent of patients said they had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they spoke to at their last appointment.

This is compared to 94 per cent at Watling Street, Oakwood and Middlewich Road, who all came joint last – but just above the national average of 93 per cent.

View the full data at gp-patient.co.uk.