Wells has missed out on a major NHS investment programme aimed at expanding GP surgeries and increasing access to appointments—while surgeries in nearby Street and Glastonbury have secured a share of the funding.

The Department for Health and Social Care announced this week that more than £102m will be allocated to over 1,000 GP practices across the UK. Sixteen of those are in Somerset, including Glastonbury Surgery and Vine Surgery in Street.

But no practices in Wells feature on the list, meaning the city will not see any of the capital funding designed to modernise buildings, create new consultation spaces and boost the number of appointments available to local patients.

The NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which helped secure the funding, said the investment is part of Labour's ten-year plan to future-proof GP services and ease pressure on hospitals by improving care in community settings.

Work on the successful Somerset surgeries is expected to start later this year. NHS Somerset has not confirmed how much each practice will receive or why certain locations, such as Wells, were not included.

Health secretary Wes Streeting MP said: "These are simple fixes for our GP surgeries but for too long they were left to ruin, allowing waiting lists to build and stopping doctors treating more patients."

The funding will be used for bricks-and-mortar improvements only, such as building additional treatment rooms or remodelling outdated spaces. Staffing and running costs will still need to be covered by individual practices.

Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care and community services, said: "Bringing GP premises up to a similar condition across England is important to improve patient experience of NHS services, while making primary care a better working environment."

In total, 16 Somerset practices will benefit—including Beckington Family Practice near Frome. Shepton Mallet also missed out on this round of funding.

The upgrades follow a review by Lord Ara Darzi, who found that many surgeries across England were operating in "inflexible, outdated buildings" that made it harder to deliver high-quality care.