THE BEST and worst GP surgeries in St Helens have been named.

The town’s best and worst surgeries have been revealed in the results a patient satisfaction survey carried out by NHS England.

The GP Patient Survey 2017 has rated Garswood Surgery, Kenneth Macrae Medical Centre and Rainhill Village Surgery as the top three GPs in the borough with 98 per cent happiness ratings, while Mill Street Medical Centre came bottom of the table with a rating of 70 per cent. The national average was 85 per cent.

The England-wide survey, based on fieldwork carried out from January to March 2017, measured patients' experiences of waiting times, care quality, opening times, making appointments and out-of-hours services.

A total of 3,836 people - 38 per cent of those asked - took part in the survey in St Helens, and 85 per cent reported their overall experiences as good or very good, with just five per cent saying it was poor or very poor.

Across the town, 36 per cent of people they found it difficult to get through to their GP, higher than the national average of 28 per cent.

Just 36 per cent of patients at the Mill Street Medical practice, 38 per cent at Market Street and 39 per cent at Billinge Medical Practice said they found it easy to get through.

And just 29 per cent of patients at Bethany Medical Centre were satisfied with their waiting room time. Overall, 58 per cent of residents said they didn't spend too long in the waiting room before seeing the GP at the surgery.

An encouraging 97 per cent of patients said they had confidence and trust in their GPs and 94 per cent of respondents said the appointments they made were convenient for them.

Overall, 76 per cent of resident were satisfied with their surgeries' opening hours and 74 per cent rated their experience of out-of-hours services as good.

Here are how the following surgeries were rated for patient satisfaction:

Garswood Surgery (98 per cent)

Kenneth MacRae Medical Centre (98 per cent)

Rainhill Village Surgery (98 per cent)

Central Surgery (97 per cent)

Dr Rahil's Surgery (95 per cent)

Bethany Medical Centre (95 per cent)

Hall Street Medical Centre (96 per cent)

Lingholme Health Centre (95 per cent)

The Spinney Medical Centre (94 per cent)

Newton Medical Centre (93 per cent)

Parkfield Surgery (93 per cent)

Rainford Health Centre (91 per cent)

Cornerstone Surgery (90 per cent)

Phoenix Medical Centre (90 per cent)

Sherdley Medical Centre (88 per cent)

Holly Bank Surgery (88 per cent)

Ormskirk House Surgery (88 per cent)

Newholme Surgery (87 per cent)

Eccleston Medical Centre (87 per cent)

Longton Medical Centre (87 per cent)

Newton Community Hospital Practice (86 per cent)

Berrymead Farm Medical Centre (86 per cent)

The Bowery Medical Centre (85 per cent)

Park House Surgery (85 per cent)

Lime Grove Surgery (85 per cent)

Sandfield Medical Centre (84 per cent)

Four Acre Health Centre (83 per cent)

Market Street (82 per cent)

Rainbow Medical Centre (80 per cent)

Patterdale Lodge Medical Centre (77 per cent)

The Crossroads Surgery (76 per cent)

Haydock Medical Centre (73 per cent)

Billinge Medical Practice (72 per cent)

Mill Street Medical Centre (70 per cent)