Local authority area
GP practices in Dorset
37 open practices in this local authority area, 37 with enough survey answers to be rated.
Dorset as a whole
England 77.2 · 95% interval 80.8 to 82.7
The area’s Practice score is the average over its 37 rated practices. On average they are 4.7 points above the England average (95% interval: 3.6 to 5.5 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.
Clearly above 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 Dorset
Top-rated in Dorset 2026: Puddletown Surgery. 6 practices in Dorset are in the top 10% in England. How the awards work.
By Practice score, highest first, among the 36 practices in Dorset 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 | Puddletown SurgeryTop-rated in Dorset 2026 | 121 | 95.493.1 to 96.6 |
| 2 | Silton SurgeryTop 10% in England 2026 | 125 | 94.490.5 to 94.9 |
| 3 | Milton Abbas SurgeryTop 10% in England 2026 | 120 | 93.391.4 to 94.7 |
| 4 | The Cranborne PracticeTop 10% in England 2026 | 107 | 90.381.6 to 94.1 |
| 5 | The Barcellos Family PracticeTop 10% in England 2026 | 121 | 90.186.5 to 92.4 |
| 6 | Cerne Abbas SurgeryTop 10% in England 2026 | 113 | 89.086.4 to 91.0 |
| 7 | Prince of Wales SurgeryClearly above the England average | 104 | 88.382.4 to 90.5 |
| 8 | Orchid House SurgeryClearly above the England average | 115 | 88.284.2 to 91.0 |
| 8 | Yetminster Health CentreClearly above the England average | 114 | 88.285.8 to 89.9 |
| 10 | The Bridges Medical Ctr.Clearly above the England average | 126 | 86.878.2 to 90.0 |
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 Dorset, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammonite Health PartnershipCannot be told apart from the England average | 68.0 | 122 | 42.8% | 76.0% | |
Atrium Health CentreCannot be told apart from the England average | 72.9 | 103 | 37.1% | 72.6% | |
Barton House Med PracticeClearly above the England average | 80.6 | 111 | 42.3% | 71.4% | |
Bere Regis SurgeryClearly above the England average | 86.7 | 101 | 39.0% | 75.9% | |
Blackmore Vale PartnershipCannot be told apart from the England average | 84.3 | 122 | 38.2% | 77.3% | |
Cerne Abbas SurgeryClearly above the England average | 89.0 | 113 | 43.5% | 83.3% | |
Corfe Castle SurgeryClearly above the England average | 83.3 | 130 | 50.2% | 51.1% | |
Cross Road SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 73.5 | 134 | 36.3% | 73.7% | |
Fordington SurgeryClearly above the England average | 81.6 | 103 | 34.1% | 53.2% | |
Gillingham Medical PracticeCannot be told apart from the England average | 72.8 | 102 | 32.8% | 65.1% | |
Lyme Bay Medical PracticeClearly above the England average | 85.5 | 127 | 44.9% | 85.4% | |
Milton Abbas SurgeryClearly above the England average | 93.3 | 120 | 45.8% | 79.6% | |
Orchid House SurgeryClearly above the England average | 88.2 | 115 | 39.8% | 84.2% | |
Penny's Hill PracticeClearly above the England average | 82.5 | 117 | 43.7% | 63.1% | |
Poundbury Doctors SurgeryClearly above the England average | 85.8 | 118 | 44.2% | 69.2% | |
Prince of Wales SurgeryClearly above the England average | 88.3 | 104 | 38.8% | 69.9% | |
Puddletown SurgeryClearly above the England average | 95.4 | 121 | 46.4% | 92.1% | |
Queens Avenue SurgeryClearly above the England average | 80.4 | 104 | 39.2% | 65.7% | |
Royal Manor Health CareCannot be told apart from the England average | 75.9 | 111 | 32.6% | 78.8% | |
Sandford SurgeryClearly above the England average | 82.8 | 109 | 39.0% | 88.1% | |
Silton SurgeryClearly above the England average | 94.4 | 125 | 49.6% | 90.5% | |
Swanage Medical PracticeCannot be told apart from the England average | 77.7 | 107 | 40.4% | 73.3% | |
The Apples Medical CentreClearly above the England average | 81.3 | 105 | 38.5% | 64.4% | |
The Barcellos Family PracticeClearly above the England average | 90.1 | 121 | 38.4% | 84.3% | |
The Blandford Group PracticeCannot be told apart from the England average | 73.9 | 182 | 37.4% | 75.2% | |
The Bridges Medical Ctr.Clearly above the England average | 86.8 | 126 | 29.0% | 70.7% | |
The Cranborne PracticeClearly above the England average | 90.3 | 107 | 40.3% | 87.7% | |
The Grove Medical CentreClearly above the England average | 84.4 | 117 | 40.6% | 66.1% | |
The Quarter Jack SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 76.2 | 112 | 35.1% | 64.7% | |
The Verwood SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 80.6 | 117 | 43.3% | 73.2% | |
The Wellbridge PracticeCannot be told apart from the England average | 80.9 | 116 | 40.7% | 79.7% | |
Walford Mill Medical CentreClearly above the England average | 80.3 | 110 | 39.9% | 64.9% | |
Wareham SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 79.5 | 129 | 41.5% | 78.8% | |
West Moors Village SurgeryCannot be told apart from the England average | 74.1 | 120 | 45.5% | 70.0% | |
Weymouth Bay Medical PracticeCannot be told apart from the England average | 82.2 | 133 | 33.7% | 65.2% | |
59.5 | 121 | 30.6% | 75.5% | ||
Yetminster Health CentreClearly above the England average | 88.2 | 114 | 41.9% | 69.6% |
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.
Dorset 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 Dorset · All areas · Fact box for journalists
About Dorset
Background
Background on Dorset as context for the practices above. Not part of the Practice score.
- Residents
- 389,947
- Aged 65 and over
- 30.5%
- Aged 80 and over
- 9.0%
Deprivation, income and life expectancy
| Measure | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|
| Deprivation score (Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025)2025 | 16.3 | 21.8 |
| Children under 16 in relative low income families2024/25, 95% interval 15.1 to 15.9 | 15.5% | 19.8% |
| Life expectancy at birth, men2022 to 2024, 95% interval 80.8 to 81.5 | 81.1 years | 79.5 years |
| Life expectancy at birth, women2022 to 2024, 95% interval 84.5 to 85.1 | 84.8 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 Dorset
Background
Background on people aged 65 and over in Dorset, 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 | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency hospital admissions for falls, per 100,000 people aged 65 and over2024/25, age-standardised, 95% interval 1,966 to 2,124 | 2,044 | 1,958 |
| Hip fractures, per 100,000 people aged 65 and over2024/25, age-standardised, 95% interval 456 to 534 | 494 | 536 |
| Estimated dementia diagnosis rate, people aged 65 and over2026, as at 31 March, 95% interval 47.9 to 58.2 | 53.3% | 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 | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|
| Care home beds per 100 people aged 75 and over2025 | 6.3 | 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 | Dorset | England |
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at 65, men2022 to 2024, 95% interval 19.9 to 20.3 | 20.1 years | 18.9 years |
| Life expectancy at 65, women2022 to 2024, 95% interval 22.3 to 22.7 | 22.5 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.
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)
- Area background figures: population, deprivation, life expectancy, older people (Fingertips): (published May 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.