The best and worst doctor surgeries for patient-to-GP ratios have been revealed.

The data has been collected by KentOnline after the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed 85 new GPs have started working in Kent and Medway since last August.

Use our searchable table to see how your GP ranks

The recruitment drive is part of plans from the Labour government to take “urgent action to fix the front door of the NHS” after “years of neglect”.

A spokesman for the DHSC said extra investment and reforms will allow patients to “book appointments more easily, help bring back the family doctor and end the 8am scramble”.

But, Dr Julian Spinks, who oversees seven surgeries in Medway and Swale, told KentOnline that while he welcomes any news of GPs being recruited, it is not enough to end the battles to get an appointment.

The director of the Medway Practices Alliance, who has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, said: “GPs start a job and realise they're working 50% harder than colleagues in other parts of the country.

“So often, after a few years, they burn out and leave.

“So any additional GPs are welcome, but the numbers are relatively small compared with the demand across Kent.

“We continue to have parts of the county where the number of patients per GP is amongst the highest in the country.

“Of course, we're in a county where there is a population growth of around 10,000 to 15,000 people per year.

“So you've actually got to have another seven or so GPs every single year just to match that population increase.”

The latest data from NHS Digital shows 1,620 GPs across the county look after more than 2 million registered patients.

Every doctor has 2,007 patients to see on average. It is a figure that is slightly better than the national picture, which stands at 2,257 people per doctor.

However, five of the county’s worst patient-to-doctor ratios practices well exceed the Kent average.

The worst patient ratio is at the Matrix Medical Practice, in Luton, Medway, which has 16,393 patients but just one doctor.

But how have we got to this point?

Part of the reason GPs are overloaded is due to a rise in people aged 25 to 45 seeking mental health appointments, a council’s health and wellbeing board leader told the Kent Politics Podcast.

Deputy Medway Council leader Teresa Murray says GPs in the towns have told her demand for those services is higher than appointments for people over 65 asking to see their doctor for any condition.

She said: “Even two or three years ago, that wouldn't have been heard of.

“We've got to delve deeply and collectively into what is causing mental health problems to overwhelm GP surgeries.

“Unless you talk to people and find out about that, then you can carry on going, ‘there aren't enough GP appointments’. But finding out what the reasons are is an important part of the work we need to do.”

A lack of doctors and a rise in appointments are part of the problem, but it is also difficult for developers to build new practices.

This is the issue faced by residents in Teynham and Lynsted.

The villages, which have a combined population of 7,100, saw their only GP practice move to Sittingbourne in May 2022.

In October, KentOnline reported on grandmother Jackie Insell who had not seen her doctor for more than two and a half years.

Despite the efforts of local councillors to get the Medic Centre to return to Teynahm, there are few signs of it coming back any time soon.

Cllr Julien Speed, who represents the village on Swale council, explained that despite having meetings every two months with the practice, there has been little movement.

He said: “It is really complicated as there as there are so many jigsaw pieces to put together.

“You have the doctor, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and the council that need to align to get a new facility.

“There’s also an issue about ICB funding. It only has a certain budget, and it wants an integrated hub which not only has a GP but also physios and diagnostic equipment.

“We have not got scope for that in Teynham due to the local plan, which says we cannot build on green belt land.

“Work is going on behind the scenes, but it is difficult.”

Such is the situation in Swale that its council called for government help in October 2023.

So, how does Kent attract new GPs to help alleviate the issue?

Dr Spinks says people need to start thinking differently about who they go to with their health concerns, rather than going straight to their doctor.

He said: “Too often it almost feels like the GP is supposed to do everything.

“The expansion in other types of staff employed by practices and primary care networks (PCNs) has made a difference.

“There's also the introduction of other non-GP members of the team, such as nurses and paramedics and physiotherapists and pharmacists, who can take some of the workload off GPs, leaving them to deal with the most complex cases.

“But I think we haven't brought the public along with that.

"They still seem to think that if they're not seeing a GP, somehow they're being fobbed off with a poorer service.

“In reality, what we're trying to do is make sure that people go to the person best qualified to deal with their care.

“We've got to get people used to the idea that in general practice they won't always see a GP, but the GPs will be in the background supervising and making sure they get the care that they need.

“We also need to give them the flexibility, perhaps, to work part-time because going full-time with enormous list sizes is really unworkable these days.”