Compare
Compare GP practices side by side
Pick two to four practices. Each column shows the Practice Grade with its likely range and the number of answers, the other survey questions, and facts from NHS England. We point a practice out as higher only when the survey can show it. Otherwise we say they cannot be told apart.
Comparison
St. Helens Medical Centre and Tower House 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.
| Measure | St. Helens Medical CentrePO33 1UG× | Tower House SurgeryPO33 1LP× |
|---|---|---|
| Practice Grade (the 2026 GP Patient Survey and NHS appointment and phone data) | ||
| Practice Grade | 81.0likely range 77.9 to 83.5120 survey answers | 80.5likely range 74.1 to 85.1114 survey answers |
| Label (against the England average) | Cannot be told apart from the England average | Cannot be told apart from the England average |
| Patients who describe the practice as good | 80.0%likely range 76.2% to 83.2%, 120 answers | 82.5%likely range 73.4% to 88.9%, 114 answers |
| Access (mean of the two below) | 83.1%likely range 78.2% to 86.9% | 75.8%likely range 72.3% to 78.8% |
| Appointments within two weeks of booking | 80.5%likely range 72.9% to 86.4%, 1,998 appointments | 83.2%likely range 78.4% to 87.1%, 4,316 appointments |
| Calls answered by the practice | 85.7%likely range 79.5% to 90.2%, 3,457 callsClearly higher | 68.2%likely range 63.2% to 72.9%, 7,223 calls |
| More survey questions (not part of the grade) | ||
| Getting through on the phone | 78.3%likely range 74.3% to 81.8%, 113 answers | 64.0%likely range 53.3% to 73.4%, 106 answers |
| Reception and admin team | 87.7%likely range 84.4% to 90.3%, 115 answers | 90.4%likely range 82.5% to 94.9%, 112 answers |
| Having a preferred professional | 33.9%likely range 29.8% to 38.2%, 117 answers | 33.8%likely range 24.9% to 43.9%, 116 answers |
| Seeing your preferred professional | 33.5%likely range 26.7% to 41.1%, 41 answers | 23.8%likely range 11.8% to 42.0%, 37 answers |
| Knowing the next step | 91.7%likely range 88.9% to 93.9%, 116 answers | 87.6%likely range 79.1% to 93.0%, 110 answers |
| Contacting the practice | 81.6%likely range 77.9% to 84.8%, 117 answers | 79.3%likely range 69.8% to 86.4%, 113 answers |
| Wait for an appointment | 54.6%likely range 50.1% to 59.0%, 114 answers | 67.3%likely range 56.7% to 76.4%, 106 answers |
| Being listened to | 86.4%likely range 83.1% to 89.2%, 116 answers | 94.7%likely range 87.7% to 97.8%, 109 answers |
| Care and concern | 89.4%likely range 86.3% to 91.9%, 115 answers | 93.2%likely range 85.9% to 96.8%, 111 answers |
| Confidence and trust | 93.9%likely range 91.4% to 95.7%, 117 answers | 97.2%likely range 91.3% to 99.1%, 111 answers |
| Involvement in decisions | 91.7%likely range 88.8% to 93.9%, 111 answers | 94.0%likely range 86.6% to 97.4%, 102 answers |
| Needs met | 91.5%likely range 88.8% to 93.7%, 118 answers | 94.9%likely range 88.1% to 97.9%, 111 answers |
| Vaccinations and screening (NHS England QOF, not part of the grade) | ||
| Babies at 8 months | 90.5%likely range 71.1% to 97.3%, 21 patients | 84.0%likely range 75.6% to 89.9%, 100 patients |
| Children at 18 months | 91.3%likely range 73.2% to 97.6%, 23 patients | 86.2%likely range 78.8% to 91.3%, 116 patients |
| Children at 5 years | 86.8%likely range 72.7% to 94.2%, 38 patients | 87.0%likely range 79.9% to 91.8%, 123 patients |
| Women aged 25 to 49 | 73.2%likely range 69.6% to 76.6%, 598 patients | 67.4%likely range 65.4% to 69.4%, 2,046 patients |
| Women aged 50 to 64 | 76.2%likely range 72.8% to 79.3%, 672 patients | 73.0%likely range 70.7% to 75.2%, 1,486 patients |
| Facts (NHS England, not part of the grade) | ||
| Registered patients | 6,595August 2026 | 14,491August 2026 |
| Primary care network | North & East (Iw) PCN | North & East (Iw) PCN |
| Phone | 01983 871828 | 01983 817200 |
| Friends and Family Test (its own feedback) | No results for June 2026 | 88.1% good or very good538 answers, June 2026 |
| Appointments (one month) | 4,043 in August 2026Same day 26.6%; face to face 85.9% | 10,022 in August 2026Same day 45.9%; face to face 71.5% |
| Antibiotic items per STAR-PU (one year) | 0.83England 0.74, April 2025 to March 2026 | 0.94England 0.74, April 2025 to March 2026 |
| GPs (full-time equivalent) | 3.9 qualified permanent5.0 including trainees and locums1,677 patients per permanent GP | 6.6 qualified permanent9.2 including trainees and locums2,200 patients per permanent GP |
| CQC rating (a separate source) | Good | Requires improvement |
“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.
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How to read it
The Practice Grade is the same figure as on each practice’s page, with its margin of error. Two practices whose margins overlap cannot be told apart, however far apart the two numbers look. That is why a bigger number alone never gets a mark here. How we grade.
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.