A South Hams GP practice is celebrating great results in a nationwide survey of patient satisfaction.

South Brent Health Centre scored highly across the board in the GP Patient Survey carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of NHS England.

The survey is completed by hundreds of thousands of patients up and down the country, looking at their experience of their local GP surgery and other NHS services, and their general health.

In the published results looking at patient experience, the South Brent practice scored consistently well above the national average. For all but one question, it was also above average compared to other practices in the Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group area.

Practice GP Dr James Hill said: "The results for South Brent are extremely good, and the practice is justly pleased our patients feel they are getting a good service from us."

Among the highlights was the finding that 100 per cent of patients who answered the survey said it was easy to get through to the surgery by phone. That compared to just 71 nationally, and 82 per cent across the CCG.

98 per cent of respondents would also recommend the surgery to someone new to the area, against 77 per cent nationally and 85 in the NEW Devon area.

South Brent Health Centre saw a 60 per cent completion rate for surveys, with 224 sent out, and 135 returned.

Practice manager Jenny Alexander said: "We’re very happy. It’s always satisfying when patients give us good feedback."

Asked what she attributed the success to, she continued: "I think because we’re a very strong team and there’s no real hierarchy, we’re just all part of the team and working together. That’s a very important part of the practice.

"Everyone has their important roles within the practice, whether that is clinical or on the admin side.

"However, we’re also conscious that we can’t rest on our laurels, and we have to maintain a good service for patients. Things may be changing around us, but we have to continue to ensure high standards."