Patients still struggle to get through to GP surgeries on the phone – but overall satisfaction with services is increasing, according to a new survey.

The findings from the latest annual national GP survey paint a mixed picture.

Some 70.1% of patients said it was easy to get through to the practice by phone – a reduction of 0.5 percentage points from last year. In 2012 this stood at 78%.

But there was also a small increase in the patients rating their overall experience of their GP surgery as good. Some 85.2% said this, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from last year.

More than 836,000 patients took part in the survey out of 2.15 million who were sent questionnaires in the post.

Some 73.4% of patients said their overall experience of making an appointment was good – a very small increase on the previous year.

But there was a 0.5 percentage points in those able to make an appointment or speak to someone on the last occasion they tried – 84.7% in total.

The survey shows widespread ignorance of the availability of on-line services – even though most practices now offer them.

Some 5.2% knew they could see medical records on-line – and just 30.9% knew they could order repeat prescriptions on-line. Just 10.7% of patients had used this service.

The survey found that 92% had confidence and trust in the last GP they saw compared with 84.3% who had confidence and trust in the last nurse they saw.