The hardest West Berkshire GPs to see for appointments
New NHS statistics reveal that one GP practice in West Berkshire had less than 50 per cent face-to-face appointments last month, compared to the UK average of 73.4 per cent in October.
And a number of surgeries in the district had some of the longest waits across the whole of Berkshire.
The average appointment waiting time in England was between two to seven days, but 13 Berkshire practices had an average appointment waiting time of between 15 and 21 days.
When it came to offering face-to-face appointments, Tilehurst Village Surgery offered just 45.1 per cent, while Theale Medical Centre performed a bit better at 52.7 per cent.
Three West Berkshire surgeries were among the 10 lowest in Berkshire for percentages of GP appointments – Mortimer Surgery, with 22.1 per cent; Lambourn Surgery, with 32.8 per cent; and Thatcham Health Centre, with 33.4 per cent
Five of the 10 lowest performing surgeries for percentages for same-day appointments came from this district.
They were Hungerford Surgery, with 27.1 per cent; Burdwood Surgery, with 28.8 per cent; Lambourn Surgery, with 29.5 per cent; Chapel Row Surgery, with 30.2 per cent; and Thatcham Health Centre, with 31.9 per cent.
Data for October suggests only 12 per cent of appointments were face-to-face at the worst-performing GP practices in the UK, with at least two practices in the country seeing no patients on a single day.
Fewer than 30 per cent of appointments were held on the same day at six GPs in Berkshire – three of them in West Berkshire. The average in the UK in October was 38.9 per cent.
The NHS said it was providing the information in an attempt to improve transparency with patients.
Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay said: "We promised to prioritise patients and improve access and that is exactly what we have done – and this is just the start.
"I am determined to make it easier for people to get an appointment with their GP practice when they need one and this will allow patients to make a more informed choice about the care they receive."
New data will be released monthly.
