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GP Point Location data

  • Last modified date:
    9 February 2007

Point location data of GP surgeries (including branch surgeries) in England, that were operating in April 2004 is now available on the Neighbourhood Statistics website. The data form a subset of that collected by nhs.uk from a central database of all public health service establishments in England. This is maintained by the former National Health Service Information Authority (NHSIA) which is now part of NHS Connecting for Health.

This dataset is the first release of health point location information on the Neighbourhood Statistics website and is intended as a starting point for the development of further information to increase the understanding of the provision and accessibility of health services in a locality. There are plans to extend the data to cover the location of dental practitioners, opticial and pharmacy services.

Downloading the GP point location dataset from the Neighbourhood Statistics Website

The downloadable file is available on the Neighbourhood Statistics website at:

To download the file:

  1. Click 'Topics' from the front page.
  2. On the next page, click on the '+' symbol which is next to the topic area of 'Access to Services'.
  3. Click on the '+' symbol which is next to the topic area of 'Other Statistics'.
  4. You will see that there is an entry for General Practices / Surgeries, click on the radio button on the far right of the screen that corresponds to this entry.  Click the 'Next' button at the bottom of the page.
  5. The next page should have the radio button already entered against the word 'download' for General Practices / Surgeries. Click the 'Next' button at the bottom of the screen.
  6. The page gives the file in two different formats - Excel and csv. Click on one of the formats to download the file.

Guidance on Use and Interpretation

The information in this dataset is intended to be used for statistical purposes and as a tool to support accessibility planning. The data form a subset of that collected by nhs.uk, a central database of all public health service establishments in England maintained by the former National Health Service Information Authority (NHSIA) which is now part of NHS Connecting for Health.

Point location details and the range and quality of services will be used to identify social exclusion within rural areas.  From this information exclusion and opportunity can be tackled and accessibility to health services improved for rural people

There are a number of points to note when using the dataset:

  • The dataset covers static point locations of GP services.  Other health services such as those offered by mobile health professionals, NHS 'Walk In ' centres and home visits are not covered. Therefore this dataset gives a partial indication of the geographic spread of primary health services.
  • The data refers to the locations of GP surgeries in England. A general practice may either be a single surgery, or many surgery sites belonging to the one practice.
  • A general practice may be run by a single headed GP or a group partnership of a number of GPs.
  • Patients may choose to register with their preferred GP and GP Practice, which may or may not be the one which is closest to their home address. GPs also have discretion over which patients are registered with them. As GP list sizes can vary, care needs to be taken when interpreting this data using geographic boundaries such as the lower layer super output areas referred to in this dataset.

Latest publications

The GP point location data for GP surgeries in England, in April 2004 and associated metadata are now available on the Neighbourhood Statistics website . These are available in a map format, but a downloadable file will also be available soon.

Background to Access to Services Domain

The GP point location dataset is released by the Access to Services Domain of the Neighbourhood Statistics Service .As part of the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, a report of the Policy Action Team (PAT) 18 on Better Information (1) identified 9 domains on which small area data should be available for Neighbourhood Statistics.

The Access to Service domain's main objective is to assess and measure accessibility to key public services, e.g. GP surgeries, legal services, leisure facilities, Post Offices. Reliable and robust information is needed to identify areas without specific services or where access to services is poor and to assess the characteristics of the people who have restricted access, thereby helping to identify the action required to overcome problems.

Contacts

If you would like further information on Neighbourhood Statistics, please contact the team on 020 7972 6570 or email:

Footnotes

(1) For more information see:

Access keys