Political Analysis of GP Services: Patient Satisfaction by Constituency

As the country moves towards an upcoming general election, the state of NHS services will likely be a key issue. The national debate will likely focus on broad, systemic issues with the NHS, but local battles are likely to form around local issues, and few more so than patient concern with primary care services.

Patient satisfaction with GP services has been gradually declining, with the number of patients per GP on the rise, and patients increasingly avoiding making appointments.

So how does this factor into the political sphere?

Firstly, there is significant variation in patient satisfaction across the country. In fact, analysis of patient survey data suggests that 47 million patients have a better-rated GP practice within just 2 miles of their current one.

Such variations also exist across constituencies. In England, 71% of patients describe their overall experience with their registered GP as good or better. However, on a constituency-by-constituency basis, this varies dramatically from just 50% in West Bromwich West to 91% in Henley.

HealthSay analysis of GP patient satisfaction at the constituency-level shows that Labour constituencies tend to have marginally lower GP patient satisfaction, with a median satisfaction of 70%, albeit ranging all the way up to Tynemouth (held by Sir Alan Campbell) at 87%.

Meanwhile, Conservative constituencies have a median satisfaction score of 73%, and Liberal Democrat constituencies have a median score of 79%.

Top 10 Constituencies (New Boundaries)

Bottom 10 Constituencies (New Boundaries)

How reflective this is of MPs is questionable; beyond lobbying for better services and more funding their individual powers are limited. After all, funding and staffing policies are set at the regional to national level.

Instead, observed differences may well be reflective of demographics and levels of deprivation. Labour constituencies tend to be poorer (76 of the 100 most deprived constituencies are Labour), and the most deprived areas of England have worse GP patient satisfaction scores. Meanwhile Liberal Democrat constituencies are, on average, the least deprived, with the least deprived areas also having the best patient satisfaction scores.¹

Regardless, at a local campaign level, the performance - perceived or otherwise - of primary care services is likely to factor, especially among those constituencies with poorer patient satisfaction and/or particularly high levels of patients per GP. Indeed, candidates may well find that focussing part of their local campaigns on local health issues - such as GP services - to be a way of anchoring their parties’ campaigns to local concerns.

Sources:

1. Deprivation in English constituencies, 2019. UK Parliament Research Briefing. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7327/