THE GP practices in Warrington with the most and least patients per doctor have been revealed.

The British Medical Association said large disparities in GP to patient ratios throughout England are ‘wholly unacceptable’ and called on the Government to address the longstanding issues.

NHS Digital figures show 223,407 patients were registered at GP practices in the NHS Warrington Clinical Commissioning Group area at the end of January – along with the equivalent of 171 GPs.

This means if the patients were equally spread, each GP would be dealing with an average of 1,547 patients.

However, the figures vary drastically across the 26 GP surgeries located in Warrington according to data released this month, but taken at the end of January.

Cockhedge Medical Centre has the worst ratio in the NHS Warrington CCG area, with 2,986 patients per GP.

This was followed by The Lakeside Surgery in Lymm (2,649) and Parkview Medical Centre in Orford (2,634).

Meanwhile, the Warrington practices with the lowest number of patients per GP are Helsby Street Medical Centre in Fairfield (768), Manchester Road Surgery in Fairfield (803) and Padgate Medical Centre (818).

In response to the data, NHS Warrington CCG said it is working with surgeries to ensure the right level of care is available to patients.

A spokesman said: “In line with the rest of the country, our GP practices continue to work tirelessly to respond to the significant growth in demand on their services brought on by the pandemic and Covid-19 vaccination programme.

“Our primary care networks assess the needs of their local communities to ensure the right support is available.

“So that each person gets the right care in the right place by the right person, all Warrington practices have access to teams of specialists who work alongside doctors such as advanced nurse practitioners, practice nurses, mental health workers, clinical pharmacists and physiotherapists, who can all diagnose and treat health conditions.

Revealed: The most oversubscribed GP practices in Warrington (Image: PA)

Revealed: The most oversubscribed GP practices in Warrington (Image: PA)

“We will continue to work closely with practices to ensure they are able to provide the right care for their patients.”

Patient ratios vary widely across England, from 41,000 patients per GP at a practice in Coventry and Warwickshire, to just 96 at a Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin surgery.

Dr Kieran Sharrock, BMA England GP committee deputy chairman, said: “This data shows worryingly large disparities in GP to patient ratios across the country, and it is wholly unacceptable that patients should have to experience such variations in access to care.

“The Government has failed to address the longstanding recruitment and retention issues in general practice, and we now have a very unsustainable and unsafe situation where fewer GPs are being tasked with the responsibility of caring for significantly more patients."

Dr Sharrock said the Government has not paid enough attention to the primary care backlog and should provide ‘urgent and substantial support’ to enable high quality care.

The Royal College of GPs said that between September 2015 and December 2021 the number of patients per GP increased by 10 per cent, the number of fully qualified, full-time equivalent GPs fell by five percent and the population grew by four per cent.

Chairman Professor Martin Marshall said: “GPs want to be able to consistently give their patients the care they deserve, no matter where they live.

“But the increased workload expected of GPs and their teams while their numbers fail to increase at the necessary pace, is unsustainable.”

Along with the hiring of more GPs, he said plans are also needed to keep experienced GPs in the workforce for longer.

The Department of Health and Social Care said there were more than 1,600 more full-time doctors in December 2021 than two years previously, with a record-breaking number starting training last year.

A spokesman added: “We have invested £520million to improve access and expand GP capacity during the pandemic."

Here is the full list for surgeries in Warrington in order of those with the most patients per doctor to the least:

  1. Cockhedge Medical Centre – 2,986
  2. The Lakeside Surgery – 2,649
  3. Parkview Medical Centre – 2,634
  4. Four Seasons Medical Centre – 2,622
  5. The Eric Moore Partnership – 2,290
  6. Culcheth Medical Centre – 2,067
  7. Chapelford Primary Care Centre – 1,769
  8. Fairfield Surgery – 1,762
  9. Stretton Medical Centre – 1,648
  10. Springfields Medical Centre – 1,537
  11. Causeway Medical Centre – 1,528
  12. Westbrook Medical Centre – 1,526
  13. Penketh Health Centre – 1,458
  14. Fearnhead Cross Medical Centre – 1,381
  15. Dallam Lane Medical Centre – 1,380
  16. Stockton Heath Medical Centre – 1,254
  17. Latchford Medical Centre – 1,247
  18. Brookfield Surgery – 1,152
  19. Holes Lane Medical Centre – 1,136
  20. Greenbank Surgery – 1,054
  21. Birchwood Medical Centre – 1,016
  22. Guardian Street Medical Centre – 885
  23. Folly Lane Medical Centre – 863
  24. Padgate Medical Centre – 818
  25. Manchester Road Surgery – 803
  26. Helsby Street Medical Centre – 768