Healthwatch Harrow are your independent champions for making sure that your views on local health and social care services are heard and fed back to the people who commission services to ensure they improve.
Insights and Analysis
We listen to people's stories about health and social care services in Harrow. Each and every month, we receive and review around 300 experiences - about services including local GPs and Dentists, Northwick Park Hospital, Mental Health and Social Care Services.
Every story is valued, and evaluated - to establish what has worked well, and what potentially could have worked better. It is our view, that local services should meet the needs of local people.
Our findings are detailed in our trends analysis reports. Produced quarterly (every three months) they report on individual services, and also services as a whole right across the borough. We share the reports with our partners in the NHS and Local Authority, and they are also available right here on the website.
Our Report on GP Access in Harrow
During February – April 2026, 91 local people completed our survey on access to GP services.
What did we find out? Firstly, booking appointments is a challenge – while around half of respondents (46%) find it ‘easy’ to book, a significantly larger 54% do not.
Telephone access remains an issue. A quarter of respondents (26%) can usually make contact within one minute. A third (32%) usually wait five minutes and a sizeable 42% wait for ‘at least’ ten minutes, when phoning. Comments reflect congested lines, long queues, and faults (being disconnected).
Compared with last year, satisfaction with online booking has dropped. Respondents feel that online forms are more difficult to find (a 9% decrease in satisfaction) and use (22%).
When booking, two thirds of respondents (69%) have been offered a choice of consultation method (in-person, telephone, video) while a sizeable number (31%) have not. Just 31% are able to see their preferred GP or nurse.
A broad majority of respondents (84%) have experienced a remote appointment. Half (51%) feel that remote consultations have fully met their needs, while almost equally, 49% feel they have not.
News and views
"After spending most of my life in and out of hospital, I want to help make a difference and improve services for people."
Latest reports and publication
Our Report on GP Access in Harrow
During February – April 2026, 91 local people completed our survey on…
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April 2025 - March 2026, Experience of GP Services
Our GP report examines the experience of 2,420 local people.
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Advice and information
What choices do you have at your GP practice?
We've published new research showing that there are significant gaps between the choices patients want when booking a GP appointment and the…
NHS 111: Booking your A&E appointment
Learn what NHS 111 is and how you can use the service to book an A&E appointment
Getting a second opinion about your care
A second opinion is when you choose to request the expertise of another healthcare professional after you've been given a diagnosis or treatment…