THURROCK has been revealed to have the third worst ratio of GPs to patients in the country.

New data from the Nuffield Trust, an independent health think tank, shows that Thurrock NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), with 2,373 patients per GP – is the third most stretched health area in the country.

Just NHS Portsmouth CCG, which has one GP per 2,462 patients and Hull CCG with one GP per 2,804, are more pressured.

Though the figures appear damning, in real terms they show an improvement in Thurrock. At the last rating the borough was second on the list of worst areas.

Basildon and Brentwood CCG sees 2,185 patients per GP, north east Essex has 2,177 patients per GP, Southend has 2,024 per GP and mid Essex that covers Chelmsford and Maldon has 1,993 per GP.

Mid and South Essex Health and Care Partnership, which is made up of hospitals and NHS providers in the south of the county plus the CCGs that commission the services, including Thurrock CCG, Southend CCG, Basildon and Brentwood CCG, mid Essex CCG,and Castle Point and Rochford CCG said other "health professionals" are working to ease the burden off GPs.

An NHS spokesperson for the organisation said: "An increasing number of health professionals are working alongside GPs and play a vital role in delivering high quality, safe and effective care for patients.

"GP practices continue to work tirelessly to respond to a significant growth in demand for their services, whilst ensuring they provide care safely to protect both patients and their staff.

"Our practices are providing face-to-face appointments where requested or clinically appropriate, combined with telephone and online appointments to help make primary care services as accessible to everyone as possible."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are committed to increasing the number of doctors in general practice and between March 2016 and March 2021 the number of full time GPs increased, while a record-breaking number of doctors started training as GPs last year.

"We have invested £270 million to expand GP capacity during the pandemic, on top of £1.5 billion until 2024 and we are making 4,000 training places available for GPs each year, creating an extra 50 million appointments annually to improve patient access."