Peterborough has lowest percentage of good GP practices in the whole of England

A new State of Care report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed that only 11 out of 16 surgeries (69 per cent) have one of the top two ratings.

This is compared to a national average of 95 per cent.

Moreover, Peterborough has two of the 82 practices in England which are currently rated ‘inadequate’.

One is Westwood Clinic in Wicken Way, although the CQC website did not state which the other one was. The Peterborough Telegraph asked the regulator for the name of the other inadequate practice but had not received a response at the time of going to press.

Peterborough is one of only five areas in the country where less than 80 per cent of practices are rated good or outstanding.

Cllr Nick Sandford, who sits on Peterborough City Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, called for all surgeries to make clear their CQC ratings to patients.

He said: “It’s concerning that there are all these GP practices which have been found to be unsatisfactory.

“Another concerning issue is the lack of transparency - if patients are aware of what the rating is they can make the choice to switch.

Scrutiny committee chair Cllr Kim Aitken said she was “concerned” by the report.

She added: “As a resident of Peterborough myself I am fully aware of the issues our residents are facing and will do my upmost to make recommendations on improvements to the way the system is currently managed.”

A spokesperson for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG, which is responsible for GP practices, said: “The team at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG are working with our local practices to support their development and build their resilience both as individual practices, and during their move to new primary care networks.”