Greater Manchester’s health bosses have spoken out after an improved result for Bolton’s GPs in the annual GP Patient Survey.

More than 26,000 surveys were distributed across Bolton’s 49 GP surgeries, with just under 5,400 fully-completed surveys returned.

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Nationwide, around 2.56 million questionnaires were sent out, with just under 700,000 completed and returned.

In Bolton, 93 per cent of patients at Dr Zarrouk & Partners, also known as Bradford Street Surgery, rated it "very good" or "fairly good" in the 2024 GP Patient Survey, up from just 77 per cent last year.

This means the practice edged out last year’s top performing practice, Dr Rizwan and Dr Awan at the Halliwell Surgery, who have been relegated to second place, with a still-impressive 92 per cent of patients rating them good.

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Jane Bradford, associate medical director for Bolton, said: “We are really pleased to see a notable improvement with this year’s GP patient survey results.

“Across Bolton, an average of 75 per cent of patients registered with a local GP Practice rated their practice as good – a 25 percentage point increase on last year’s survey result of 50 per cent and consistent with the average patient satisfaction rates across Greater Manchester.

“This is down to the hard work of all the practices across Bolton, but of particular note, are the results from two Bolton Practices – Dr Zarrouk & Partners, and Drs Rizwan & Awan, where at least 90 per cent of patients rated these practices as good.

“Whilst the above results are very encouraging, we know that there is more to be done to ensure all patients receive the best health service possible which is why Bolton GPs are committed to further improving their services for patients.

“For example, a recent audit has shown that between April 2023 and March 2024, Bolton GPs provided on average an additional 1,500 appointments per week, compared with the same period during the previous 12 months.

“And major improvements to GP Practice telephone systems are already in the pipeline for 2025.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.