Patients across Birmingham have delivered their verdict on local doctor's surgeries, with several practices receiving alarmingly poor ratings in the latest national survey.
National Context for Local Concerns
The revelation comes as the government announces plans to completely transform GP services across the UK, overhauling a funding system that has remained unchanged for more than twenty years. This shake-up aims to address significant disparities in healthcare provision.
Research consistently shows that people living in more deprived areas and coastal communities often have the greatest healthcare needs yet face the poorest access. These regions typically struggle with the fewest GPs, the worst-performing services, and the longest waiting lists, creating a postcode lottery for medical care.
The Birmingham GP Patient Survey Results
The 2025 GP Patient Survey, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England between January and March, gathered responses from more than 700,000 patients across England. While the majority of patients nationally described their overall experience as 'very good' (44%) or 'fairly good' (31%), the results revealed significant concerns at specific Birmingham practices.
Here are the GP surgeries in Birmingham where patients gave the most negative feedback about their overall experience, ranked by the percentage of patients who rated their surgery as 'very poor'.
Birmingham's Lowest-Rated GP Practices
Aubrey Road Medical Centre received the poorest ratings, with 26% of the 99 respondents describing their overall experience as 'very poor'. The practice had distributed 953 survey forms, achieving a 10% response rate.
Finch Road Primary Care Centre followed closely, where 23% of the 112 patients who responded rated their experience as 'very poor'. This practice sent out 978 forms and recorded a 12% response rate.
Saltley and Fernbank Medical Practice and Alpha Medical Practice both received 'very poor' ratings from 20% of their responding patients. Saltley and Fernbank achieved an 8% response rate from 993 forms distributed, while Alpha Medical Practice saw a 12% response rate from 985 forms sent to patients.
What This Means for Birmingham Patients
These findings provide crucial insight into patient satisfaction at a time when primary care services face unprecedented pressure. The detailed patient feedback highlights specific areas where improvements are most urgently needed as the government prepares to implement its new funding model for general practice.
For Birmingham residents, the survey offers valuable information about local healthcare quality and underscores the importance of patient feedback in driving service improvements across the NHS.
