On average, there are 1,719 patients for every full-time-equivalent GP in England.
But patient-to-GP ratios vary hugely across the country, from just 89 patients per full-time GP at a surgery based in a residential home in Balham, London, to 40,875 at a practice in Stratford, London.
Regionally, the North West has the fewest patients per GP, at 1,557, while London has the most, at 1,956.
In Wigan the latest data shows the huge range in patient-to-GP ratios across the town.
Professor Martin Marshall, who chairs the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs want to be able to consistently give their patients the personalised care they deserve, no matter where they live in the country. But the increased workload expected of GPs and their teams, coupled with the chronic shortage of GPs, is unsustainable.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "Each General Practice is required to provide services to meet the reasonable needs of its patients. There is no government recommendation for how many patients should be assigned to a GP, as the demands each patient places on their GP are different and can be affected by many different factors – including rurality and patient demographics.”
The figures, a snapshot from August 31 of this year, were published by NHS Digital and include trainee GP and locums.
The GP-to-patient ratio is only one way of looking at how busy a surgery is.
Most surgeries will also have other staff treating patients, such as nurses, physiotherapists and midwives.
Sometimes, a surgery might appear to have a low number of GPs because they share staff with a neighbouring practice. Alternatively, they may have been in the process of recruiting when they supplied their staffing figures to the NHS.
Here are the top 10 busiest surgeries in Wigan (not including Leigh) according to the data from NHS Digital.
And these are the 10 worst-rated doctor’s surgeries in Wigan, according to a recent GP patient survey.
1. Higher Ince Surgery
Higher Ince Surgery was recorded as having 3,307 patients and the full-time equivalent of 0.4 GPs, which would be the equivalent of 7,751 patients per full-time GP. Photo: Google
2. Lower Ince Surgery (Claire House)
Lower Ince Surgery (Claire House) was recorded as having 4,286 patients and the full-time equivalent of 1.3 GPs, which would be the equivalent of 3,348 patients per full-time GP. Photo: Google
3. Winstanley Medical Centre
Winstanley Medical Centre was recorded as having 3,185 patients and the full-time equivalent of 1 GP, which would be the equivalent of 3,063 patients per full-time GP. Photo: Google
4. Newtown Medical Practice
Newtown Medical Practice was recorded as having 6,008 patients and the full-time equivalent of 2.1 GPs, which would be the equivalent of 2,888 patients per full-time GP. Photo: Google