A LANCASHIRE village GP who faced the prospect of losing control of the surgery she has run for a decade has offered heartfelt thanks to her patients for giving the practice a near-perfect satisfaction score.

It is the latest show of support for Dr Ann Robinson, lead GP at Withnell Health Centre, from the people she and her team look after.

Back in January, 1,500 patients on the surgery’s books – more than one in four – signed a petition protesting against the decision by regional NHS bosses to hand the contract for the facility to GP conglomerate SSP Health, which operates more than 40 north west surgeries.

Dr Robinson had lost out in the procurement process run by the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB), but after uproar from villagers – many of whom said that they had no idea of what was in the pipeline – the organisation admitted that its consultation process had been deficient and said that it would re-run the process.

Now the latest GP patient survey results have seen 97 percent of those who responded say that their overall experience of Withnell is good, compared to a national average of 71 percent.

Dr Robinson said she wanted to give a “huge thank-you” to patients for their backing.

She added: “This time, we had about a 50 per cent return rate on the survey, when it is usually about 10 per cent. So it was even better to see the results, because it was even more representative of what people think.

“We have always done well in this survey, but the scores we got this year have gone up  in many cases,” Dr. Robinson said.

She believes the threat of changes to the Railway Road surgery has prompted more patients to respond this time around – and thinks that it is the “continuity of care” on offer that they value particularly highly.

Dr Robinson said: “Eighty-six per cent of patients get to see their preferred GP here, whereas nationally, that number is 35 per cent.  So I think it’s the combination of being seen when you want to be seen and by a healthcare professional you know which has given the scores that we have got.”

The ICB is currently re-running its procurement process and has a series of public consultation events planned in the coming weeks.