Local authority area
GP practices in Bedford
13 open practices in this local authority area, 13 with enough survey answers to be rated.
Bedford as a whole
England 77.2 · 95% interval 76.4 to 80.8
The area’s Practice score is the average over its 13 rated practices. On average they are 1.8 points above the England average (95% interval: from 0.8 points below to 3.6 points above). The Practice score weighs patient experience, the share of patients who describe their practice as good (70%), and access (30%): the share of appointments within two weeks of booking and the share of calls the practice answers, from NHS England’s latest monthly data.
Cannot be told apart from the England average
This compares patients’ answers in the area as a whole with England’s, every rated practice counting equally, as each practice’s label compares its patients’ answers. Access moves the figure above, not this. It says nothing about any single practice: see each practice’s own page.
Best-rated GP practices in Bedford
Top-rated in Bedford 2026: Harrold Medical Practice. No practice in Bedford is in the top 10% in England this year. How the awards work.
By Practice score, highest first, among the 13 practices in Bedford with a label. Each score has a margin of error, and neighbouring scores often overlap, so nearby places can be close calls.
| Place | Practice | Survey answers | Practice score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harrold Medical PracticeTop-rated in Bedford 2026 | 150 | 86.984.7 to 88.7 |
| 2 | Linden Road SurgeryClearly above the England average | 90 | 85.881.5 to 88.9 |
| 3 | Ashburnham Road SurgeryClearly above the England average | 99 | 84.281.0 to 86.5 |
| 3 | Sharnbrook SurgeryClearly above the England average | 113 | 84.280.7 to 86.9 |
| 5 | Priory Medical Centre | 125 | 82.978.9 to 86.2 |
| 6 | The Vale Medical Practice | 98 | 82.070.6 to 88.7 |
| 7 | Putnoe Medical Centre Partnership | 112 | 76.965.8 to 84.7 |
| 8 | King Street Surgery | 111 | 76.663.8 to 85.1 |
| 9 | London Road Health Centre | 114 | 76.563.7 to 85.0 |
| 10 | Great Barford Surgery | 112 | 75.872.5 to 78.7 |
The line under each grade is its 95% interval. The Practice score weighs patient experience, the share of patients who describe their practice as good (70%), and access (30%): the share of appointments within two weeks of booking and the share of calls the practice answers, from NHS England’s latest monthly data. The label compares patients’ answers with England’s; access moves the grade, never the label.
Practices with exactly the same Practice score share a place, listed A to Z.
Only practices with a label are placed. Practices without one are in the full list below, with their figures.
All GP practices in Bedford, A to Z
In alphabetical order. The list is not a ranking. Each Practice score is shown with its 95% interval; a label appears only when the margin of error supports it.
| Practice | Practice score | Survey answers | Response rate | Access | Trend 2024–2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ashburnham Road SurgeryClearly above the England average | 84.2 | 99 | 11.6% | 89.8% | |
Goldington Avenue SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 72.4 | 125 | 34.3% | 76.8% | |
Great Barford SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 75.8 | 112 | 34.2% | 78.1% | |
Harrold Medical PracticeClearly above the England average | 86.9 | 150 | 45.1% | 94.4% | |
King Street SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 76.6 | 111 | 27.1% | 79.1% | |
Linden Road SurgeryClearly above the England average | 85.8 | 90 | 16.4% | 83.1% | |
London Road Health CentreCannot be told apart from the England average | 76.5 | 114 | 20.6% | 78.5% | |
Priory Medical CentreCannot be told apart from the England average | 82.9 | 125 | 31.9% | 85.2% | |
Putnoe Medical Centre PartnershipCannot be told apart from the England average | 76.9 | 112 | 26.2% | 79.6% | |
Queens Park Health CentreCannot be told apart from the England average | 69.7 | 107 | 21.2% | 83.6% | |
Sharnbrook SurgeryClearly above the England average | 84.2 | 113 | 37.5% | 86.2% | |
The de Parys GroupCannot be told apart from the England average | 72.5 | 198 | 31.9% | 82.0% | |
The Vale Medical PracticeCannot be told apart from the England average | 82.0 | 98 | 24.4% | 81.9% |
The trend column shows overall experience (the share of patients who describe the practice as good), 2024–2026, from the GP Patient Survey (question 32). It is the survey part of the Practice score, not the score itself. Practices with fewer than 3 yearly results are shown without a curve.
Other NHS services listed as GP practices
NHS England’s register lists these services as GP practices, but you cannot choose to register with them, so they are not in the lists or on the map above.
Bedford on the map
- Clearly above the England average
- Rated
- Not rated
Each practice is placed at the centre of its postcode, not at its building, so practices that share a postcode share a point. Click a point to see every practice there.
Choosing and changing a practice
Help me choose in Bedford · All areas · Fact box for journalists
About Bedford
Background
Background on Bedford as context for the practices above. Not part of the Practice score.
- Residents
- 194,976
- Aged 65 and over
- 17.1%
- Aged 80 and over
- 4.8%
Deprivation, income and life expectancy
| Measure | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|
| Deprivation score (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025)2025 | 19.7 | 21.8 |
| Children under 16 in relative low income families2024/25, 95% interval 17.2 to 18.3 | 17.8% | 19.8% |
| Life expectancy at birth, men2022 to 2024, 95% interval 79.1 to 80.1 | 79.6 years | 79.5 years |
| Life expectancy at birth, women2022 to 2024, 95% interval 83.4 to 84.3 | 83.9 years | 83.3 years |
Source: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Fingertips: residents and ages 2024 (Office for National Statistics), deprivation 2025 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), children in low income families 2024/25 (Department for Work and Pensions), life expectancy 2022 to 2024 (Office for National Statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0.
Older people in Bedford
Background
Background on people aged 65 and over in Bedford, with England beside it. No figure here says an area is doing better or worse. Not part of the Practice score.
Hospital care and dementia
| Measure | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency hospital admissions for falls, per 100,000 people aged 65 and over2024/25, age-standardised, 95% interval 1,459 to 1,727 | 1,589 | 1,958 |
| Hip fractures, per 100,000 people aged 65 and over2024/25, age-standardised, 95% interval 392 to 537 | 460 | 536 |
| Estimated dementia diagnosis rate, people aged 65 and over2026, as at 31 March, 95% interval 61.4 to 76.1 | 69.2% | 66.3% |
The hospital figures are age-standardised, so an older population does not raise them. Since 2022/23 some hospital trusts report same-day emergency care in another dataset, which can lower the admissions counted.
The dementia rate is the number of people with a recorded diagnosis out of the number estimated to have dementia. It is counted by where the practice is, not where patients live.
Care homes
| Measure | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|
| Care home beds per 100 people aged 75 and over2025 | 10.6 | 8.3 |
Beds are counted where the home is, not where its residents come from, and people under 75 also live in care homes.
Life expectancy at 65
| Measure | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at 65, men2022 to 2024, 95% interval 18.8 to 19.6 | 19.2 years | 18.9 years |
| Life expectancy at 65, women2022 to 2024, 95% interval 21.4 to 22.1 | 21.7 years | 21.4 years |
Source: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Fingertips: hospital admissions 2024/25 (NHS England), dementia diagnosis 2026 (as at 31 March) (NHS England), care home beds 2025 (Care Quality Commission), life expectancy 2022 to 2024 (Office for National Statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0.
Talking therapies for the NHS area covering Bedford, August 2026
Of the people who finished a course of NHS Talking Therapies in the NHS area that covers Bedford in August 2026, 70% started treatment within 6 weeks of referral and 99% within 18 weeks. The national standards are 75% and 95%.
Bedford is covered by NHS Central East ICB (sub-ICB M1J4Y).
| NHS area | Started within 6 weeks | Started within 18 weeks |
|---|---|---|
| NHS Central East ICB, sub-ICB M1J4YAbout 875 people finished a course in August 2026 | 70% | 99% |
| England51,269 people finished a course in August 2026 | 83.4% | 97.5% |
| National standardSet by NHS England for people who finish a course | 75% | 95% |
These figures are for the NHS area that commissions the service, not for Bedford and not for any GP practice. Most people refer themselves, so they say nothing about the quality of a practice.
Only people who finished a course in the month are counted, so people still waiting are not. Counts are rounded to the nearest 5, rates to the nearest whole per cent, and NHS England hides numbers under 5. One month can move by several points.
Source: NHS England Digital, NHS Talking Therapies Monthly Statistics (August 2026, published 8 October 2026), Open Government Licence. Areas are matched to NHS areas with the Office for National Statistics lookup from neighbourhoods to sub-ICBs and local authorities (April 2026).
Flu vaccination in Bedford, winter 2025 to 2026
74.9% of patients aged 65 and over registered with GP practices in Bedford had a flu vaccine between 1 September 2025 and 28 February 2026 (25,619 of 34,196). England: 74.5%.
| Who | Bedford | England |
|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 and over25,619 of 34,196 | 74.9% | 74.5% |
| Under 65 in a clinical risk group12,664 of 32,816 | 38.6% | 40.6% |
| Pregnant women826 of 2,310 | 35.8% | 38.4% |
| Children aged 2999 of 2,239 | 44.6% | 43.5% |
| Children aged 31,054 of 2,203 | 47.8% | 44.8% |
The counts follow the GP practice, not where people live. They include vaccinations given in GP practices, pharmacies and other places that are recorded in the GP record. 99.3% of practices sent data. UKHSA says the number counted as pregnant may be too high, so uptake among pregnant women is probably understated.
This card shows flu only. We have not found local authority figures for last winter’s COVID-19 vaccination from UKHSA.
Source: UK Health Security Agency, Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients: winter season 2025 to 2026 (final data, published 28 May 2026). Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data updated
The month each source’s data runs to, and when its publisher released it.
- GP Patient Survey: (published 9 July 2026)
- Appointments in General Practice: (published 24 September 2026)
- Cloud Based Telephony Data in General Practice:
- GP Patient Survey, earlier years (2024 and 2025): (published July 2025)
- Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in GP patients, by local authority: (published 28 May 2026)
- Area background figures: population, deprivation, life expectancy, older people (Fingertips): (published May 2026)
- NHS Talking Therapies monthly statistics: (published 8 October 2026)
- NHS organisation data (ODS):
- Postcode locations and local authority areas:
Sources
- 2026 GP Patient Survey: https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/
- 2024 GP Patient Survey: https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/
- 2025 GP Patient Survey: https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/
- Contains information from NHS England, licenced under the current version of the Open Government Licence
- Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026
- Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026
- Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Area figures: Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (Fingertips), from Office for National Statistics, Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, NHS England and Care Quality Commission data.
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Flu vaccine uptake: UK Health Security Agency, Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in GP patients (final data, winter season 2025 to 2026). Contains Office for National Statistics data (local authority lookup) licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains information from NHS England, licenced under the current version of the Open Government Licence. NHS Talking Therapies monthly statistics. Contains Office for National Statistics data (LSOA to sub-ICB to ICB to local authority lookup) licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.