Oxfordshire GP services struggling due to housing growth

This comes as the NHS released the results of a new patient survey aimed at gauging how people feel about their local GPs.

The survey is sent by NHS England to more than two million people across the UK.

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The questions covered a range of topics such as how easy it is to book an appointment and the standards of healthcare available.

Liberal Democrat councillor David Rouane, who represents Didcot Ladygrove on Oxfordshire County Council, said: “The local population has grown hugely in the past few years.

“But all of our facilities, not just medical facilities, have not kept pace.

“The immediate thing we are doing to address the issue is trying to build a new surgery in Didcot but there is also a shortage of GPs nationally.”

The NHS patient survey revealed that the Newbury Street Practice in Wantage, the Montgomery House Surgery in Bicester and Woodlands Medical Centre in Didcot were the three lowest rated practices in Oxfordshire.

Each had an overall satisfaction rating of below 60 per cent.

In general, the survey revealed that people’s satisfaction with the level of care provided was very high when they could access a GP.

But patients expressed frustration at the time it took to book an appointment and how often they could speak to their preferred GP.

Councillor Jenny Hannaby who represents Grove and Wantage on Oxfordshire County Council said: “Concerns about GP services is now one of the biggest things in my inbox as a councillor.

“We simply do not have enough doctors to cover all of the new people coming into the area.

“We do not have the infrastructure and it is a concern.

“The most important thing for me is ensuring that we keep medical services local.”

The councillor added that she was part of a group campaigning to reopen the hospital in Wantage to help ease demand on services.

MP for Oxford East Anneliese Dodds explained that the results of the survey reflect the fact that people are struggling to get the care that they need.

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She said: “Our primary care staff are heroes, working in incredibly difficult circumstances.

“But after 13 years of neglect and mismanagement under the Conservatives our health service is failing, and that is felt acutely in primary care.

MP Anneliese Dodds

 “The findings of the NHS patient survey just confirm what people across Oxford already knew.

“Every day people are struggling to get the care they deserve - including for serious conditions.”