The majority of patients (71%) had a good experience booking an appointment, according to the latest GP Patient Survey, produced by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England.
This is up from 65% in the 2020 survey.
The issue of whether GPs are offering enough face-to-face appointments as Covid-19 restrictions ease remains hotly debated.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has now unveiled a £250m package for GPs in England to improve access to their services - but only if they increase the number of in-person consultations.
GP groups have responded angrily, accusing ministers of failing to grasp the scale of the staffing crisis affecting surgeries.
The patient survey contacted 2.4 million people from January to April of this year to gather information on how patients feel about their local GP service, and around a third of them responded.
The results reveal the best and worst rated surgeries in Blackpool and beyond.
They also shed light on people’s experiences of booking an appointment locally.
Here we reveal the GP practices in Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group area which were voted the easiest/hardest to make an appointment at.
Surgeries are ranked by the proportion of patients who said their experience of booking an appointment was ‘very good’.
1. Arnold Medical Centre
There were 334 survey forms sent out to patients at Arnold Medical Centre. The response rate was 39.8%. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 63.6% said very good, 29.9% said fairly good, 5.5% were neither good nor poor - while 0% said fairly poor and 1% very poor.
2. Cleveleys Group Practice
There were 314 survey forms sent out to patients at Cleveleys Group Practice. The response rate was 42.7%. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 49.1% said very good, 30.6% said fairly good, 13.2% were neither good nor poor - while 6.4% said fairly poor and 0.8% very poor.
3. The Crescent Surgery
There were 291 survey forms sent out to patients at The Crescent Surgery. The response rate was 45.7%. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 46.8% said very good, 35% said fairly good, 7% were neither good nor poor - while 5.9% said fairly poor and 5.2% very poor.
4. Newton Drive Health Centre
There were 409 survey forms sent out to patients at Newton Drive Health Centre. The response rate was 35.9%. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 44.3% said very good, 33.9% said fairly good, 13.4% were neither good nor poor - while 4.5% said fairly poor and 3.8% very poor.
5. Abbey Dale Medical Centre
There were 388 survey forms sent out to patients at Abbey Dale Medical Centre. The response rate was 35.1%. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 41.2% said very good, 26.6% said fairly good, 10% were neither good nor poor - while 13.8% said fairly poor and 8.5% very poor.
6. Stonyhill Medical Practice
There were 352 survey forms sent out to patients at Stonyhill Medical Practice. The response rate was 37.2%. When asked about their experience of making an appointment, 41.2% said very good, 37.5% said fairly good, 11.3% were neither good nor poor - while 4.9% said fairly poor and 5.1% very poor.