Frequently asked questions

Why was I invited to take part?

You have been invited to take part because you were randomly selected from all adult patients registered with a GP in England. Around 3 million patients aged over 16 registered with a GP in England have been selected to receive the GP Patient Survey this year.

How do you contact people to take part in the survey? Is the survey legitimate?

You will be invited to take part in the GP Patient Survey on behalf of NHS England by Ipsos, an independent market research agency. It is a voluntary survey, and the initial invitation is sent out by post. A small number of people will be initially invited by text message or via the NHS App. You can take part in the survey online, on paper or by calling our telephone helpline.

You may also receive text messages, emails, WhatsApp messages or NHS App notifications reminding you to take part in the survey.

You will not be asked to provide any identifiable information in the survey, such as your name, address, or bank details. No-one will approach you at home or by telephone to ask you to take part in the survey. At any one time there will be a range of other surveys run by Ipsos or other research companies, some of which may ask similar questions to those in this survey. If someone does say they are calling or visiting you specifically asking you to take part in the ‘GP Patient Survey’, we strongly recommend that you do not speak to them or let them into your home, and that you contact the police.

If you have any further questions about the survey, Ipsos has a Freephone survey helpline. Please call 0800 819 9135 (8am to 9pm Monday to Friday; 10am to 5pm on Saturdays).

Why was I sent a text message? Is this legitimate?

We send text messages as a reminder to take part in the survey, where we have mobile numbers.

There are two types of text message. The type of text message you receive depends on your phone provider and device. The simple version on the left will be sent from ‘NHSSurvey’, the version on the right will include the NHS logo and be sent from ‘NHS GP Patient Survey’.

Each text message contains a unique link, either within the message or via the ‘Take Part’ button. This will enable you to take part online without needing to enter your personal survey code.

You may also receive a text message with a unique link to an e-letter, inviting you to take part in the survey. This will also enable you to take part online without needing to enter your personal survey code.

Why was I sent an email? Is this legitimate?

We send email reminders to take part in the survey, to those people for whom we have an email address.

Email reminders will be sent from ‘nhsgppatientsurvey@ipsosresearch.com’. Each email contains a unique link. This will enable you to take part online without needing to enter your personal survey code. Additionally, a small number of emails will be sent from ‘nhs.gp.patient.survey@notifications.service.gov.uk’, the NHS Notify email address.

If you respond to the email, the response will be sent directly to our helpline team. Replies from our helpline will come from ‘GPPatientSurvey@ipsos.com’.

Emails can sometimes go into your junk or spam, so please check these folders if you haven’t received an email.

Why haven’t I been invited to take part in the survey? How can I take part?

The survey is sent to a random selection of people who are registered with a GP in England. To ensure the survey is valid, Ipsos cannot invite people who have not already been selected at random to take part in the survey.

However, NHS England are committed to hearing patient’s views on services they have received, and there are other ways you can provide feedback. For example, your GP practice should offer the Friends and Family Test (FFT)  which lets you leave comments about your experience. You can also give feedback on services you have received by posting comments on websites such as Care Opinion.

Alternatively, you can feedback to the commissioner, which is the organisation that pays for the service or care you received. For GP services, you should contact your local integrated care board (ICB).

I have not contacted or visited my GP recently, should I still take part?

Yes, you can still take part. Even if you have not recently had an appointment with a GP, nurse, or other healthcare professional, your answers are still valuable to us. There are questions in the survey which ask when you last tried to contact your GP practice and when you last had a general practice appointment. These will help us understand whether your experience is recent or not.

If a question does not apply to you, please select 'It doesn’t apply' (where included) or leave it blank. The online survey will automatically skip questions that are not relevant to you. If you take part using the paper questionnaire, we have included routing instructions to help you avoid answering questions which are not relevant.

I changed my practice last week / last month / recently, should I still take part?

If you changed your GP practice after October 2025, please answer the questions about the practice you were registered with before then, for the questions which ask about your GP practice. However, for questions about your last appointment, please think about anywhere you have had a general practice appointment. This could be any general practice location, such as GP practices, or on other premises such as in GP hubs or health centres.

Who should I contact if I don’t want to take part?

Taking part is completely voluntary. We hope you will take part as this will give us the best possible picture of people’s experiences of their GP practice and other local NHS services.

If you do not want to receive any reminders about this survey, please contact the Ipsos survey helpline on Freephone 0800 819 9135 (8am to 9pm Monday to Friday; 10am to 5pm on Saturdays). You can also email Ipsos at GPPatientSurvey@ipsos.com.

Please be ready to provide your survey code, which you can find in the middle of the letter or at the bottom of a text message.

Why have I received another questionnaire that asks similar questions?

At any time, there may be other surveys asking about similar things, for example, local surveys run by your GP practice or other health services, and the national Health Insight Survey. But these are not the same as the GP Patient Survey. We would be grateful if you could still take the time to take part.

Can you fill in the survey on behalf of someone else?

If someone needs your help taking part in the survey, you can offer help. But the answers should be about their experience only. If your relative or friend does not have the capacity to take part, you can fill in the survey on their behalf, if they have given you permission to do this (for example, if you are their Power of Attorney). Please answer all questions about their experience only, including the demographic questions at the end of the questionnaire.

Ipsos also provides a Freephone survey helpline for patients who have problems filling in the questionnaire. Please call 0800 819 9135 between 8am and 9pm Monday to Friday, or 10am to 5pm on Saturdays.

How much are calls to 0800 numbers?

All calls to 0800 telephone numbers are free when made from a standard UK landline phone or mobile.