Kings Medical Centre

Updated 13 November 2023

Kings Medical Centre is located in Essex at:

23 Kings Avenue

Buckhurst Hill

Essex

IG9 5LP

The provider is registered with CQC as a partnership to deliver the regulated activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice is situated within the West Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 7,810 people. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. .

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices within the Loughton, Buckhurst Hill, and Chigwell Primary Care Network (PCN).

Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the tenth lowest decile (10 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 85.8% White, 8.2% Asian, 3.0% Mixed, 2.1% Black and 0.9% other ethnicity.

The practice population had an equal percentage of males to females in their population.

There is a team of 4 GP partners and 1 salaried GP. The practice has a team of 3 nurses who provide nurse led clinics for long-term conditions and are supported by 1 health care assistant. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. The practice manager provides managerial oversight, supported by an operational manager.

The practice also has access to staff working across their Primary Care Network (PCN) including pharmacy support, social prescribing, paramedics, first contact practitioners, health coaches, mental health practitioners and advance nurse practitioners.

The practice is open between 8am to 6.30pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 8am to 1pm on Wednesday. Evening appointments were available between 6.30 and 9.00pm on Tuesday evenings. Pre-bookable appointments on Tuesday and Thursday evenings were also available to all patients at additional locations within the area, as the practice was a member of a primary care network. Appointments were available all-day Saturday and Sunday 8am until midday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments.

Out of hours services are provided by 111.

Updated 13 November 2023

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kings Medical Centre on 5 October 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as good.

Safe - good

Effective - good

Caring - good

Responsive - good

Well-led - good

Following our previous inspection on 23 October 2015, the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Kings Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection.

We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities. In this case, the practice was selected for inspection due to the length of time since our previous inspection.

How we carried out the inspection.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included :

• An announced site visit.
• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• Speaking with a member of the Patient Participation Group
• Speaking with one local care home.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Monitoring training and appraisals to ensure there are updated according to the practice’s own schedule and in line with national guidance.
• Continue to develop its approach to infection prevention and control to ensure the practice achieves full compliance with standards.
• Take steps to prioritise processing of information relating to new patients.
• Take action to continue to promote a culture of reporting of incidents, concerns and near misses.
• Continue to improve uptake of cervical cancer screening.
• Complete all necessary sections of ‘Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR)’ documentation.
• Continue efforts to identify and explore ways to effectively support carers.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care