Healthcare across England is of differing quality, with some areas rated high by patients and others lowly. The variations reflect funding and organizational differences and suggest that state-led healthcare is not well-structured. Westmorland and Furness has the highest-rated healthcare facilities in England, with an average rating of 4.75 stars out of five. In contrast, Sandwell in the West Midlands comes out with the lowest-rated providers, with an average rating of 2.8 stars.
This comes from research that reveals which local authorities in England are most and least happy with their healthcare providers. The study, conducted by personal injury company Claims.co.uk and it looked at all healthcare facilities within each English local authority, identified using the Care Quality Commission website.
Each facility was then found on Google, and the number of reviews and average star ratings were assessed. Only areas with five or more healthcare facilities, each facility having at least 100 reviews, were included. The average star rating across all providers for each area was then found and ranked.
Top English local authorities with the best-rated healthcare providers
- Westmorland and Furness
- Richmond upon Thames
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- Herefordshire, County of
- City of London
- Cornwall
- Sutton
- Dorset
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Devon
- Isle of Wight
- Shropshire
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Surrey
- North Yorkshire
- County Durham
- Cheshire East
The study revealed that Westmorland and Furness in Cumbria has the highest-rated facilities, with the eight assessed in the study averaging a 4.75 rating. In total, seven of the providers were rated between 4.1 and five stars, with only one between 3.1 and four stars. The highest-rated facility, Crossbank Dental Care, has an average rating of five stars.
In joint second are Richmond upon Thames’s facilities and East Riding of Yorkshire’s providers, both seeing an average rating of 4.69 out of five.
For Richmond upon Thames, in southwest London, there were 32 facilities included in the ranking and over 6,800 reviews assessed. 28 providers were rated between 4.1 and five stars, while four were rated between 3.1 and four stars. The highest-rated facility is Castelnau Dentists with a 4.9-star rating.
As for East Yorkshire, 15 of those assessed were rated between 4.1 to five stars, with just one between 3.1 to four stars. The highest-rated facility, the oddly-named Hey Baby 4D Hull, was given 4.8 stars.
In third place is Herefordshire in the West Midlands, with an average star rating of 4.67. Six healthcare providers were included, and of those, five were in the top star-rating band. Over 1,600 reviews were taken into account, and the best-reviewed provider, Warrendale Dental Care, received a rating of 4.9 stars.
Ranking in fourth place is the City of London, with an average rating of 4.66. It has 36 providers included and is the first on the list to have at least one facility rated between 2.1 and three stars. Despite this, the highest-rated provider, ODL Dental Clinic, has a stellar 4.9 rating, and 32 providers were rated 4.1 stars and above.
Rounding off the top five is Cornwall, where the average star rating across the 26 facilities included is 4.64. Over 7,900 reviews were included across the providers, with just two rated between 3.1 to four stars, and the rest all given 4.1 stars and higher. Wadebridge Dental Care Ltd is the highest-rating provider in the area and has a rating of 4.9 stars.
Bottom 10 – English local authorities with the lowest-rated healthcare providers
- Sandwell
- Barking and Dagenham
- Telford and Wrekin
- Luton
- Walsall
- Kingston upon Hull
- Waltham Forest
- Thurrock
- Redbridge
- Newham
At the opposite end of the study, Sandwell in the West Midlands has the lowest-rated facilities, seeing a 2.8-star average. Of the 22 that were assessed, nine were rated between 1.1 and two stars, with a further five facilities rated between 2.1 and three stars. Despite this, there were seven on the list that achieved a 4.1 to five-star rating, with the highest-rated one having a rating of 4.8 stars.
Second from the bottom is Barking and Dagenham, with an average of 3.15 stars. The eastern borough of London has 21 facilities in the study, with four of these rated below three stars.
Third from the bottom is Telford and Wrekin, also in the West Midlands. Here, across the eight facilities assessed, an average of 3.18 starswas awarded.
Luton, just north of London, finds itself in fourth lowest place with an average rating of 3.42, followed by Walsall in the West Midlands with a rating of 3.43.
