GP Patient Survey results 2026
The latest results of the national GP Patient Survey offer the first indication from the public of how easy they find it to use the NHS App or websites to contact their GP practice since contractual changes introduced in 2025 required practices to keep online booking systems open throughout normal working hours.
The survey findings, answered by more than 650,000 people in the first three months of 2026, show:
- Over half (58%) of people said it was easy to use their GP practice's website to get in touch, up from 51% the previous year. Similarly, 54% found it easy to contact their practice using the NHS App, a notable increase from 49% in 2025.
- More people (31%) contacted their practice through online methods this year, compared with 22% in 2025.
- Improvements in the 8am phone rush, with 57% saying it was easy to get hold of their practice on the phone, compared with 53% in 2025.
- Most people felt listened to by their health professional in their last appointment (87%) and treated with care and concern (86%), in scores similar to those in 2025.
- In a new question, only three in ten (31%) people referred by their GP for specialist care said had been offered a choice of hospital, and only one-third (34%) said they knew about this right to choose before their appointment.
- 13% of people who find it difficult to see, hear, speak, read or understand what is being said, said they never or almost never received help from practices to communicate or understand the information they are given about their care, an increase from 11% the year before.
Nationally, the GP patient survey asked: Overall, how would you describe your experience of your GP practice? With 76.7% of respondents rating their experience as Good or Fairly Good. In the North West, 79% rated their overall experience as good or fairly good, with Runcorn Primary Care Network at 72% and Widnes Primary Care Network at 71%.
William Pett, Healthwatch Interim Director of Policy and Public Affairs said:
“These results show that, despite GP workforce pressures, patients continue to experience good care from GPs and other professionals during appointments. It is also encouraging that more people are finding it easier to contact their practice by phone or online – better online access is something we have long called for on behalf of patients.
“That said, access still lags behind the quality of care patients receive, and there is more work to do to close that gap.
“While access is going in the right direction, we also need to ensure that patients have choices given to them over their own care. Less than a third of people in the GP Patient Survey said that they were given a choice of hospital when referred for specialist care. We know that these kinds of choices are important to patients to ensure they receive care as quickly as possible and in a setting that works best for them.”
