OHP-Victoria Road Surgery

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We carried out an announced assessment of one quality statement, equity of access, on 12 March 2024. • The leaders used people’s feedback and other evidence to actively seek to improve access for people. • Services were designed to make them accessible and timely for people who were most likely to have difficulty accessing care. • The provider prioritised, allocated resources and opportunities as needed to tackle inequalities and achieve equity of access.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

Appointments could be booked online, by telephone or in person. All appointments were triaged by a member of the reception team who had received training and were supported by a GP in care navigation. Patients may be signposted to a range of health and care professionals to best meet their needs. Alerts on the clinical system were used to identify patients who were vulnerable and may need additional support in accessing services. The practice was open for appointments Monday and Thursday 8.30am to 6.30pm, Tuesday and Friday 8.30am to 6pm and Wednesday. The practice closed 1pm to 2pm daily. During periods of closure, patients were able to access an advanced service the practice had arranged with their out of hours provider. Appointment data for the 4 weeks between 29 January 2024 and 25 February 2024 showed a total of 1892 appointments had been allocated to patients. Of those 74% were face to face, followed by telephone (24%) and the remaining 2% were video or online consultations. 59% of appointments were with a GP. Data showed that home visits were undertaken when needed, these were triaged by a GP to ascertain the need. The practice had a 5% did not attend rate for appointments. To try and minimise DNAs the practice would contact patients by text to remind them of their appointment. Monthly Data from the practice collated between August 2022 and December 2023 showed over half of the appointments were the same day (52.8%) and a further 39% were within 2 weeks. Some appointments were reserved for urgent appointments, these were triaged by a doctor and once full the GP would decide whether they can be seen the following day or need to be redirected to an urgent treatment centre or A&E. Some appointments were also reserved for NHS111 direct booking. Additional appointments were available to patients in the evenings and weekends with a range of health professionals at another local practice through the extended access hub arrangements.

Leaders demonstrated they were aware of the challenges to patient access and had acted to improve this. They told us how staff had been trained in care navigation so that they could signpost and refer patients to the appropriate person or service; including a social prescriber, musculoskeletal practitioners, mental health workers and dietician through arrangements with their Primary Care Network (PCN). The practice had also recently signed up to a community pharmacy consultation service where they could refer patients with minor ailments. Leaders told us how they ensured their appointment data was accurate so it could be used to better understand how appointments were being used. Although no specific data was available on appointment utilisation the leaders told us there were usually appointments available within the nursing team and that they had brought in locum staff following an audit in January 2024 which identified Tuesday and Friday as the busiest day. Leaders shared with us call data from September 2023 to February 2024. This showed the practice had received nearly 17,000 calls in that period, of which, 95% were answered. Leaders told us how they supported people to understand how to access services through their website and information displayed at the practice, text messages and through direct patient engagement. The premises were accessible to patients with mobility difficulties via ramp access. The practice provided opportunities and support for different groups of patient population to overcome health inequalities. The practice was registered as a safe surgery supporting people without any identification or address to register and a veteran friendly practice. They supported patients in local care /nursing homes providing links with a care co-ordinator to understand any specific needs. We saw positive feedback from these homes. Leaders provided examples of how they supported members of the LGBT+ community to feel at ease using the services.

We reviewed the practice's results in the 2023 national GP patient survey. Results for four questions relating to access showed the practice scores were generally in line with national averages. Historically, practice results had been higher than national averages but had in the last couple of years showed a marked decline. This was particularly notable for the question relating to patients’ overall experience of making an appointment. Leaders advised that this was a relatively small practice previously led by a single-handed GP who was well-respected and knew the patients, they also advised that there had been a lot of changes in the way appointments were being managed for patients to get used to which may have led to the recent decline in patient satisfaction. The practice had received feedback from patients through the Friends and Family Test (FFT) which invites patients to say whether they would recommend the service to others. Feedback received from 301 patients between July 2023 to February 2024 found 86% of patients had rated the practice as good or very good. Reviews left on the NHS Website in the last 12 months were mostly positive about the service and access, although there was one review where difficulty in accessing an appointment was raised. The practice had received 10 complaints in the last 12 months, 4 of these related to access. We also received feedback from 2 patients in the last 12 months in which patients had reported on difficulties in accessing appointments. In response to patient feedback the practice was collecting further information to try and understand patient concerns. They had made changes to the appointment system to support fairer access to appointments and ensure patients were seen by the most appropriate member of staff or service for their needs.

We did not look at Equity in experiences and outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.