New GP surgery - why can’t they all be like this?

A week ago, I’d finally had enough and changed my GP’s surgery. Fortunately I live in the town centre and have two surgeries equidistant. Why did I wait so long and put up with such poor service at my previous practice? It was nothing to do with clinical care and everything to do with a) the reception staff, who, if being rude, dismissive and unhelpful to patients were an Olympic sport, they would be gold medal winners b) the internal administration where test results, letters, queries got ‘lost’ c) the appointment system which clearly was predicated upon the surgery’s mission of preventing patients from making appointments at all costs.

My new practice has the most charming, helpful reception/ admin staff and an appointment system so far ranging, flexible and patient friendly it’s beyond belief. I’ve had one appointment so far and the clinical care was first rate ( as it was at my previous practice) I know it’s early days yet but I’m sure my blood pressure has already gone down. These two practices are completely comparable in terms of demographics, funding ets but couldn’t be further apart in overall service provision. Why oh why do we allow such differences to persist?