Waiting times at Hounslow's GP surgeries are among the longest in the country, a survey has revealed.

Nearly two fifths of patients had to wait longer than two days for an appointment, according to figures published by health watchdog the Healthcare Commission today.

Hounslow Primary Care Trust (PCT), the body responsible for healthcare in the borough, was also let down by inconvenient opening hours, a shortage of NHS dentists and its failure to advise smokers about quitting.

Patients rated it among the worst performing 20 per cent of trusts nationwide in more than half the 35 areas on which they were quizzed after more than 1,000 people across Hounslow were asked about the care they received between January and April, with just under 400 responding to the questionnaire.

The results will come as no surprise to health chiefs after a government study revealed the area had some of the worst GP provision in the country.

They have already announced plans to open clinics in Feltham, Hounslow and Brentford next April, catering for an extra 18,000 registered patients, a £3 million scheme that will include the borough's first walk-in, late opening surgery, at the Heart of Hounslow Health Centre in Bath Road, Hounslow.

Despite the trust scoring so badly in comparison with other trusts, nearly three fifths were happy with the time they waited, while just 17 per cent said they should have been seen 'a lot sooner'.

A massive 96 per cent of patients said they trusted their doctor. But when it came to finding a dentist, just 44 per cent of those quizzed said they visited an NHS practice regularly and a third said they didn't see one at all.