St Marys Surgery

Background to this inspection

Updated 7 June 2017

Dr Stone & Partners, also known as St Mary’s Surgery, is located at Church Close, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 1DP. The practice is based in the town centre of Andover and has approximately 12,200 patients.

The practice provides services under an NHS general medical services contract and is part of the NHS West Hampshire clinical commissioning group (CCG). The practice is based in an area of low deprivation compared to the national average for England. A total of 60% of patients registered at the practice have a long standing health condition compared to the national average of 54% and a West Hampshire CCG average of 55%. The practice explained that the population is predominantly white British but that there are registered patients from Eastern Europe, particularly of Polish nationality.

The practice has a number of patients registered as temporary patients due to links with the local crisis centre for individuals who have suffered domestic violence, as well as links with the local homeless refuge centre. Andover has undergone a period of re-development with new homes being built in the surrounding areas resulting in an increase to practice list sizes.

The practice has eight GP partners, four female and four male who, between them, provide 48 clinical sessions per week. The practice is a training practice for doctors wishing to become GPs and currently has two registrars. The practice plans to employ a salaried GP in June 2017 to provide additional doctor sessions per week.

Dr Stone & Partners is open between 7.30am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available daily between 7.30am and 6pm. Extended hours surgeries are also available on alternate Saturday mornings and the GPs also offer home visits to patients. The practice is based in a purpose built surgery building that provides consulting and treatment rooms over two floors with a lift for accessibility for all patients. The offices for support staff and management are located on the first floor.

The practice has opted out of providing out-of-hours services to their own patients and refers then to the NHS 111 service. The practice offers online facilities for appointment booking and prescription requests.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 7 June 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Stone & Partners on 14 June 2016. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. The full comprehensive report on the June 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Dr Stone & Partners on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 10 May 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 16 June 2017. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is now rated as Good.

Our key findings were as follows:

Policies within the practice had been updated and risk assessments had been reviewed and actioned.
All staff were trained in safeguarding training to the correct level for their role.
There was a well-planned cleaning schedule with a cleanliness check system for the entire practice building.
There was a clear and informative training matrix for all staff.
Clinical improvements had been evidenced in the last year, including the undertaking of several audits that had led to better processes in the care given.
The data showed that the practice now compared favourably for outcomes in most clinical areas when compared to national and local averages.
The practice now routinely offered a translation service to all new patients as required.
Complaints were followed up by the practice in order to understand if further learning or improvements could be implemented.
The practice had introduced a social media page.This enabled younger patients to receive information regarding the practice and for the practice to be able to reach this patient group more effectively.

In addition the practice should:
Continue to support patients with learning disabilities to attend for annual health checks with the practice or other services

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)

Chief Inspector of General Practice