Most and least oversubscribed GP surgeries in Southampton

Data from NHS Digital named Peartree Practice in the city with the worst ratio amongst the surgeries in and around Southampton, with an average of 6,345 patients per GP.

However, Celine Rushbrooke, practice manager at Peartree Practice, has disputed the Government’s data, claiming it is “a crude measure”.

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She said it is “not a true reflection of the number of GPs and other Clinical Practitioners that we have working in the practice on a daily basis.”

She added: “Like all GP Practices we have been dealing with an increased workload and demand over the last two years, but we are confident that we have a strong and effective clinical team to meet the needs of our patients.”

Peartree is located in Sholing.

A closer look

The data from the national health service - released last month but recorded at the end of January 2022 - includes all GP surgeries that are part of the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight CCG.

We have only included the surgeries in and around Southampton, which includes the New Forest, Romsey and Fareham. 

The figures provide a monthly "snapshot" of the primary care general practice workforce.

The latest batch of data has shown large disparities between surgeries in and around Southampton.

Peatree Practice was followed by the Sovereign Health Partnership in Fareham with an average of 3,531 patients per GP and University Health Service in Southampton (3,106).

On the other end of the scale are the practices with the lowest number of patients per GP.

This includes Lyndhurst Surgery with an average of 555 patients, North Baddesley Surgery with 816 and Aldermoor Surgery in Southampton with 916.

In response to the data, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight CCG said it is working closely with services across the area to ensure the "best quality" care is provided. 

James House, managing director for Southampton CCG, said: "Our GP practices are supporting more patients and working harder than ever before.

The most and least subscribed GP surgeries data

"In addition to a GP, patients are able to access a wide range of specialists including nurses, clinical pharmacists, physician’s associates, and paramedics through their practices. 

"These roles are there to ensure people get the right help as soon as possible, and work closely with services across the area to ensure the best quality care and support is provided for patients."

How can things be improved?

There seem to be innumerable answers to this question.

They include improving financial efficiency, no privatisation of the health service, an increased number of health workers, and more.

For St Denys resident Nick Chaffey, the answer lies closer to home.

The 57-year-old, who is a patient at Alma Road Surgery in Portswood, said: "The problems in GP surgeries go back a long time and have been magnified by the Covid crisis as demand has increased.

"The most immediate thing to do is to reopen the walk-in centres in Bitterne and Shirley.

"To some extent, this is an issue of resources and the NHS has lost services to funding cuts and privatisation.

"In the past, we had a much, much better service and it wasn’t difficult to get a GP appointment or treatment."

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr Chaffey suffered from bursitis, which is the inflammation of a bursa.

He endured severe back pain but also suffered from long waiting times.

He said: "When I had issues with my back, the dilemma I had was trying to get quick treatment.

"I love my GP practice and the GPs there are fantastic, but I had to queue outside the surgery for an appointment.

"I hobbled to my car, drove to the surgery in the morning and joined the queue.

"By the time I got to the reception I missed the appointment for the day. This was pre-pandemic.

"My treatment was really good and I got a quick referral, but then I had to self-refer to physiotherapy.

"I heard nothing so I had to pay to go private. It was only two to three months after that I received an offer for an NHS physiotherapy appointment.

"We need councillors and MP in the city who are going to fight for the NHS.

"The longer it takes, the worse people will get."

"There are too few GPs to cope with demand"

Healthwatch Southampton has responded to the NHS figures.

The city's independent body for improving health and social care says it is aware that wait times vary across Southampton, and although it has not received many comments specifically about this, communication is often cited as an issue.

A spokesperson said: "We understand that e-consult is being used extensively to attempt to ensure that those most in need can see a doctor in a reasonable time."

According to Healthwatch, this system works well for GPs and for many patients, but not all patients find e-consult straightforward, especially those with learning difficulties or little experience of computer use. 

The spokesperson said: "We have drawn this to the attention of the CCG, and they have passed our concern on to practices proposing that there needs to be help with e-consult for those that need it. 

"The use of e-consult is helping in the short term, but regrettably there are too few GPs to cope with the increased demand. 

"There are many situations that can be dealt with by other health care professionals and, although perhaps not popular, we must accept that GPs cannot deal with every situation, as they have in the past, and so will need to accept the need to see other health care professionals. 

"In turn, this means that GP practices need to provide these alternative professional consultations."

Behind the data

It's important to remember that the above figures are simply a snapshot of a section of the healthcare industry. 

These statistics present full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount figures by four staff groups, (GPs, Nurses, Direct Patient Care (DPC) and administrative staff), with breakdowns of individual job roles within these high-level groups.

We sourced the data for full-time (classed as 37.5 hours according to NHS Digital) GPs in and around the city. 

Not all general practices provide valid data.

In some cases, practices provide details about a staff member but no information about their working hours.

If this happens, the NHS calculates FTE estimates for these staff.

And in some cases, practices provide no valid data whatsoever for an entire staff group. 

What do you think needs to be done to improve services?