People in north east London have had worse experiences with their GPs than the national average, new data suggests.

A survey conducted by NHS North East London Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) found 77 per cent of respondents described their overall experience of using their GP as "good", six pc below the national average.

The results include GPs from Barking and Dagenham, Havering, Hackney, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and the City of London.

A spokesperson from the CCG said the results offer "valuable insight" and it will be working to address the issues raised.

The GP Patient Survey was run by Ipsos Mori on behalf of NHS England.

Of the 32,480 respondents, 64pc said they found it easy to get through to the GP by phone, 66pc described their experience of making an appointment as "good" and 64pc were satisfied with appointment times.

All of these responses fell below the national average by at least four pc.

Almost a quarter of people (23pc) who needed an appointment said they avoided making one for fear of catching Covid.

Five pc of respondents felt they did not have time and 14pc found making an appointment too difficult. Some 18pc were worried about burdening the NHS, two pc below the national average.

A spokesperson for NHS North East London CCG, said: “Despite it being an incredibly challenging year for everyone, especially in terms of the impact the pandemic has had on how people access their GP, more than three quarters of people (77 pc) reported their experience of general practice in north east London as ‘good’ overall which is testament to the ongoing efforts of our GPs and primary care teams.

“These results give us valuable insight in helping us to support our GP practices to be as good as they possibly can be and inform our primary care priorities overall, and we recognise there is room for improvement so we will be working to address the issues raised – including how we can improve access to appointments.”

The results also showed that 84pc of respondents said they found practice receptionists helpful and nearly two thirds (64pc) said they found it "easy" to get through on the phone.