GP patients rate local surgeries as access gap exposed

GP surgeries across Wells, Street, Glastonbury and Shepton Mallet have been rated in the latest GP Patient Survey, with local results showing strong scores for care during appointments but a wider gap on access. The survey was published today, Thursday, 9 July 2026, and records patients' experiences of GP practice services, including appointments, contact and overall care.

The local figures compare seven practices: Wells City Practice, Wells Health Centre, Vine Surgery Partnership in Street, Glastonbury Surgery, Glastonbury Health Centre, and Shepton Mallet's Grove House Surgery and Park Medical Practice.

Wells practices scored particularly strongly for overall experience. Wells City Practice scored 91% and Wells Health Centre scored 90% for patients describing their overall experience of the practice as good, compared with an ICS average of 79% and a national average of 77%.

Overall experience scores were also above the national average at the Street and Shepton Mallet practices where figures were supplied. Grove House Surgery scored 87%, Park Medical Practice scored 82% and Vine Surgery Partnership scored 80%, compared with an ICS average of 79% and a national average of 77%.

The results also show strong confidence in clinical care during appointments. Park Medical Practice scored 99% for patients saying they had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw, followed by Wells City Practice on 97%, Grove House Surgery on 97%, Vine Surgery Partnership on 95% and Wells Health Centre on 94%, compared with an ICS average of 94% and a national average of 93%.

Patients also gave high scores for being involved in decisions about their care. Vine Surgery Partnership scored 99%, Wells City Practice scored 98%, Grove House Surgery and Park Medical Practice both scored 97%, and Wells Health Centre scored 94%, compared with an ICS average of 94% and a national average of 92%.

The results for listening were also strong at the practices where appointment figures were supplied. Wells City Practice scored 97%, Wells Health Centre scored 94%, Park Medical Practice scored 92%, and Vine Surgery Partnership and Grove House Surgery both scored 90%, compared with an ICS average of 89% and a national average of 87%.

Patients also rated being treated with care and concern highly. Wells City Practice scored 97%, Vine Surgery Partnership and Wells Health Centre both scored 92%, and Grove House Surgery and Park Medical Practice both scored 90%, compared with an ICS average of 88% and a national average of 86%.

The results show high scores for patients having the information they needed. Vine Surgery Partnership and Wells City Practice both scored 98%, Grove House Surgery scored 97%, Park Medical Practice scored 96% and Wells Health Centre scored 95%, compared with an ICS average of 93% and a national average of 92%.

Overall needs were recorded as being met for most patients in the appointment figures supplied. Wells City Practice scored 98%, Park Medical Practice scored 96%, Grove House Surgery scored 95%, Wells Health Centre scored 93% and Vine Surgery Partnership scored 91%, compared with an ICS average of 91% and a national average of 90%.

Access results varied more widely across the local practices. Wells Health Centre scored 81% for patients finding it easy to get through by phone, followed by Glastonbury Health Centre on 78%, Grove House Surgery on 72%, Wells City Practice on 68%, Park Medical Practice on 55%, Glastonbury Surgery on 49% and Vine Surgery Partnership on 48%.

Website access showed a similar spread. Glastonbury Health Centre scored 87% for patients finding it easy to contact the practice using its website, followed by Park Medical Practice on 76%, Wells City Practice and Grove House Surgery both on 68%, Glastonbury Surgery on 48%, Vine Surgery Partnership on 43% and Wells Health Centre on 41%.

NHS App access also differed between practices. Grove House Surgery and Park Medical Practice both scored 71%, Glastonbury Health Centre scored 62%, Wells City Practice scored 61%, Wells Health Centre scored 57%, Glastonbury Surgery scored 51% and Vine Surgery Partnership scored 27%.

Reception and admin teams were rated positively across the practices. Glastonbury Surgery and Wells Health Centre both scored 94% for helpful reception and admin staff, followed by Wells City Practice on 92%, Park Medical Practice on 89%, Glastonbury Health Centre and Grove House Surgery both on 88%, and Vine Surgery Partnership on 79%.

Continuity of care, measured by whether patients usually saw or spoke to their preferred healthcare professional, was highest at Grove House Surgery on 73%. Wells City Practice scored 53%, Vine Surgery Partnership scored 48%, Park Medical Practice scored 47%, Wells Health Centre scored 39%, Glastonbury Surgery scored 37% and Glastonbury Health Centre scored 32%.

For last contact with a GP practice, Wells Health Centre scored 97% for patients knowing what the next step would be, followed by Grove House Surgery on 94%, Wells City Practice on 92%, Park Medical Practice on 91% and Vine Surgery Partnership on 73%. The ICS average was 88% and the national average was 84%.

The figures also show that Vine Surgery Partnership scored 96% for patients knowing what the next step would be within two days, compared with 98% at Grove House Surgery, 95% at Wells City Practice and Wells Health Centre, and 87% at Park Medical Practice. For the overall experience of contacting the practice, Wells City Practice scored 89%, Wells Health Centre scored 85%, Grove House Surgery scored 84%, Park Medical Practice scored 76% and Vine Surgery Partnership scored 67%.

Wells City Practice also scored 85% for patients saying they waited about the right amount of time for their last general practice appointment, compared with 74% at Wells Health Centre. The ICS average was 70% and the national average was 69%.

Wells Health Centre scored 75% for patients being offered a choice of time or day when they last tried to make an appointment, while Wells City Practice scored 61%. The ICS average was 60% and the national average was 57%.

For support with long-term conditions or illnesses, Wells Health Centre scored 77% for patients saying they had enough support from local services or organisations in the last 12 months. Wells City Practice scored 65%, compared with an ICS average of 72% and a national average of 70%.

Vine Surgery Partnership said it was disappointed with some of this year's results, but said they did not reflect changes made over the past 12 months to improve access and patient experience. The practice said 295 questionnaires were issued and 98 were returned, representing less than one per cent of its registered patients, but added that every patient's experience mattered.

It said the survey showed patients continued to have confidence in its clinical team once they were seen, but acknowledged that access remained challenging for some patients. A spokesperson said: "This survey tells two stories. It shows that our patients continue to have great confidence in the care they receive from our clinical team once they are seen, but it also highlights that for some patients accessing services remains challenging."

"We remain committed to providing the best possible care for our community and will continue working with our Patient Participation Group and patients to shape future improvements," the spokesperson added.

The access figures sit against a wider local context of population and GP provision across the patch. Census 2021 parish data gives usual resident estimates for parishes, while NHS and practice listings show where GP practices are based.

Street, where Vine Surgery Partnership is based, had a Census 2021 parish population of about 12,700 and one GP practice in the comparison. Glastonbury had a parish population of about 8,980 and two GP practices in the comparison: Glastonbury Surgery and Glastonbury Health Centre.

Shepton Mallet had a Census 2021 parish population of 10,589 and two GP practices in the comparison, Grove House Surgery and Park Medical Practice. Wells had a Census 2021 parish population of 11,145 and two GP practices listed locally, Wells City Practice and Wells Health Centre.

The comparison is not a direct patients-per-surgery calculation, because GP practice boundaries do not follow parish boundaries and patients may register outside the town or village where they live. It does, however, show the local context behind the access figures, with Street having the largest parish population of the four areas listed and one GP practice in the supplied survey comparison.

The GP Patient Survey is used by NHS England to monitor patient experience across practices, integrated care systems and nationally. The full results are available through the GP Patient Survey website.