The 2025 GP Patient Survey results are out, and as always, they make for interesting reading. Conducted by Ipsos for NHS England, the fieldwork ran from 30 December 2024 to 1 April 2025. 

Over 2.72 million surveys were sent out, and 702,837 responses were received — a response rate of 25.8%. The results have been weighted to ensure demographic representation.

Key National Findings

• Overall Satisfaction: 75% of respondents reported a positive experience at their GP practice — a slight increase from 74% in 2024.
• Contacting the Practice: 70% rated their experience of contacting their GP as good, up from 67% last year
• Access to Services:

o    53% found it easy to get through by phone (up from 50%)
o    51% said their practice’s website was easy to use (up from 48%)
o    49% found it easy to contact their practice via the NHS App (up from 45%)
o    22% last contacted their practice online, up from 17% in 2024

• Reception and Admin Teams: 83% of patients found receptionists helpful. That said, some practices saw up to 24% of patients rate receptionists as unhelpful.
• Seeing a Preferred GP: Continuity of care remains a challenge. At some practices, fewer than 20% of patients regularly saw their preferred GP.

What Can We Gather — And What Should Happen Next?

There’s definitely been an improvement on the 2024 figures, and that can only be positive. But practices up and down the country will be looking at these results and probably wondering what more they can do to improve.

One would hope that the NHS and the government would work hand in hand to support that aim.
As I’ve repeatedly said, there’s very little support for practices when it comes to advising patients on how new operating systems can and do benefit them.

There’s rarely any effort to explain the reasons behind changes. Instead, the government and the NHS tend to stay quiet — and that silence only fuels the perception that changes are for the benefit of the practice, not the patient.

There’s also little recognition that demographics have a real impact on the results and the variances we see. And with such a small number of surveys sent out and returned, can we really say the results reflect the true performance of a practice?

Take my own surgery where I am a patient, the results aren’t great — but in my opinion, the care I’ve received has always been first-rate. That might be because I’ve worked in the system and know what to expect. I understand the processes, I work with the surgery’s way of operating, and I don’t come in with unrealistic expectations and demands .

Final Thoughts

The survey is useful, yes — but it’s not the full picture. Behind every statistic is a patient, and behind every practice is a team doing their best in a complex and often under-supported system.

If we’re serious about improving outcomes, then better communication, more nuanced analysis, and genuine support for both patients and practices must be part of the conversation.

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