Newcastle-under-Lyme · Compare
Lyme Valley Medical Centre vs Higherland Surgery
Two GP practices in the same primary care network, a short way apart. Side by side, with the margin of error on every figure.
Can the survey tell them apart?
Lyme Valley Medical Centre and Higherland Surgery cannot be told apart on the Practice Grade. The likely ranges overlap, so the data does not show that one is ahead of the other, whatever the two numbers are.
Side by side
| Measure | Lyme Valley Medical CentreST5 3TF | Higherland SurgeryST5 2UE |
|---|---|---|
| Practice Grade (the 2026 GP Patient Survey and NHS appointment and phone data) | ||
| Practice Grade | 81.6likely range 71.6 to 88.188 survey answers | 87.4likely range 83.6 to 90.0119 survey answers |
| Label (against the England average) | Cannot be told apart from the England average | Clearly above the England average |
| Patients who describe the practice as good | 79.8%likely range 65.7% to 89.1%, 88 answers | 88.5%likely range 83.8% to 91.9%, 119 answers |
| Access (mean of the two below) | 85.5%likely range 80.8% to 88.8% | 84.6%likely range 78.7% to 88.2% |
| Appointments within two weeks of booking | 90.3%likely range 83.2% to 94.6%, 1,621 appointments | 91.8%likely range 82.3% to 96.4%, 948 appointments |
| Calls answered by the practice | 80.6%likely range 74.4% to 85.6%, 3,969 calls | 77.3%likely range 70.3% to 83.0%, 3,488 calls |
| More survey questions (not part of the grade) | ||
| Getting through on the phone | 77.9%likely range 63.2% to 87.9%, 84 answers | 76.7%likely range 70.8% to 81.7%, 115 answers |
| Reception and admin team | 90.6%likely range 78.1% to 96.3%, 86 answers | 94.5%likely range 90.8% to 96.7%, 118 answers |
| Having a preferred professional | 24.4%likely range 14.1% to 38.9%, 89 answers | 33.1%likely range 27.5% to 39.3%, 119 answers |
| Seeing your preferred professional | Not shown: fewer than 30 answers | 48.5%likely range 38.2% to 59.0%, 44 answers |
| Knowing the next step | 92.6%likely range 80.8% to 97.4%, 88 answers | 84.9%likely range 79.7% to 88.9%, 116 answers |
| Contacting the practice | 85.7%likely range 72.4% to 93.2%, 88 answers | 83.2%likely range 78.0% to 87.4%, 119 answers |
| Wait for an appointment | 86.1%likely range 72.0% to 93.8%, 79 answers | 85.5%likely range 80.2% to 89.6%, 108 answers |
| Being listened to | 80.2%likely range 65.7% to 89.6%, 84 answers | 91.6%likely range 87.4% to 94.5%, 118 answers |
| Care and concern | 81.3%likely range 67.0% to 90.3%, 85 answers | 88.7%likely range 84.0% to 92.1%, 118 answers |
| Confidence and trust | 93.4%likely range 81.3% to 97.9%, 82 answers | 92.6%likely range 88.5% to 95.3%, 118 answers |
| Involvement in decisions | 88.0%likely range 74.1% to 95.0%, 78 answers | 89.6%likely range 85.0% to 92.9%, 118 answers |
| Needs met | 92.7%likely range 80.6% to 97.5%, 84 answers | 90.0%likely range 85.5% to 93.2%, 117 answers |
| Vaccinations and screening (NHS England QOF, not part of the grade) | ||
| Babies at 8 months | 91.2%likely range 82.1% to 95.9%, 68 patients | 96.3%likely range 87.5% to 99.0%, 54 patients |
| Children at 18 months | 94.5%likely range 86.7% to 97.8%, 73 patients | 94.3%likely range 84.6% to 98.1%, 53 patients |
| Children at 5 years | 92.9%likely range 83.0% to 97.2%, 56 patients | 84.0%likely range 71.5% to 91.7%, 50 patients |
| Women aged 25 to 49 | 71.4%likely range 68.8% to 73.8%, 1,289 patients | 72.3%likely range 69.1% to 75.3%, 791 patients |
| Women aged 50 to 64 | 74.1%likely range 70.5% to 77.4%, 618 patients | 75.9%likely range 71.5% to 79.9%, 399 patients |
| Facts (NHS England, not part of the grade) | ||
| Registered patients | 7,928August 2026 | 4,923August 2026 |
| Primary care network | Newcastle Central PCN | Newcastle Central PCN |
| Phone | 01782 615367 | 01782 917840 |
| Friends and Family Test (its own feedback) | 90.9% good or very good351 answers, June 2026 | 71.4% good or very good7 answers, June 2026 |
| Appointments (one month) | 2,477 in August 2026Same day 50.9%; face to face 86.9% | 1,401 in August 2026Same day 49.8%; face to face 77.4% |
| Antibiotic items per STAR-PU (one year) | 1.02England 0.74, April 2025 to March 2026 | 0.95England 0.74, April 2025 to March 2026 |
| GPs (full-time equivalent) | 0.2 qualified permanent1.6 including trainees and locums | 3.2 qualified permanent8.1 including trainees and locums1,538 patients per permanent GP |
| CQC rating (a separate source) | Good | Good |
“Clearly higher” appears only when a practice’s likely range lies wholly above every other practice’s here. When the ranges overlap, the survey cannot tell the practices apart and nobody is pointed out. A practice never gets a mark for being lower.
The Practice Grade weighs the survey and access, from NHS appointment and phone data; the other survey questions are from the 2026 GP Patient Survey. The facts are from NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and OHID, are not part of the grade, and are shown as each practice’s own record. NHS England advises against ranking practices on the Friends and Family Test or on appointment figures, and we point nothing out in the facts, vaccination or screening rows.
The full pages
Sources
- 2026 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 information from the Care Quality Commission, licensed under the Open Government Licence. CQC must be acknowledged as the source of the data; CQC is not responsible for our analysis.
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Antibiotic prescribing: UK Health Security Agency and Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (Fingertips), from NHS Business Services Authority prescribing data.