Edington Surgery

Updated 20 December 2016

The Polden Medical Practice comprises of two surgeries. The main surgery is in Quarry Ground in Edington and there is a branch surgery at Woolavington.

The Edington surgery is in Broadway, Edington, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA7 9HA.

The Woolavington branch surgery is in Road, Woolavington, Somerset, TA7 8ED.

The Edington surgery is set over one floor and has level access. It has an on-site dispensary with separate access to the reception area.

The Woolavington surgery is set over one floor with a passenger lift to the upper level of the building. It is fully accessible with wide corridors, disabled toilet and baby changing facilities.

There is an on-site dispensary.

The practice is open between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available throughout the day between these times. Extended hours appointments are offered between 8.30am and 12.30 every Saturday at Edington surgery or the Woolavington branch surgery on alternate weeks. Out of hours, patients are directed to Somerset out of hours service and 111 service.

The practice held a General Medical Services contract and enhanced service specifications with the NHS England local area team. Enhanced services were in addition to the usual services available from a GP, such as, services for those with poor mental health, such as dementia and frail older patients with end of life care needs.

The practice patient list was just over 8,600 patients. Most of the patients registered with the practice were of working age however most of the work carried out by the GPs was with older patients, over 65 years of age. The percentage of patients over 65 years was higher than the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group average and above the average for England.

There were four GP partners and two salaried GPs who worked part time. The practice employed a practice manager and administrative support staff along with nurses, healthcare assistants and dispensing staff. The practice was involved in the training of GPs.  

Updated 20 December 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a comprehensive inspection on 12 November 2014. As part of the inspection we visited both the Edington Surgery, also known as the Polden Medical Practice and the branch surgery in Woolavington.

Overall the services are rated as good. This is because we found both practices to be good for providing an effective, caring, responsive and well-led service. They were also good for providing services for all of the population groups. The practice required improvement for providing safe services. This was because the practice did not manage blank hand written prescription forms in accordance with national guidance as these were not tracked through the practice or kept securely at all times

Following the comprehensive inspection in November 2014, the provider sent an action plan detailing the steps they would take to meet the breaches in regulations.

During this focussed inspection we found the provider had taken appropriate action in respect of the management and security of blank hand written prescription forms. The safe domain is now rated as safe, with the overall practice being rated as good for all domains and population groups.

This report covers our findings in relation to the requirements and should be read in conjunction with the report published in April 2015. This can be done by selecting the 'all reports' link for Edington Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

At this inspection we found:

• All prescriptions including hand written prescriptions were stored securely.

• The practice had implemented a new policy and procedure for the receipt, storage, distribution and usage of prescriptions forms.

• The practice had implemented a system to track prescription pads in order to account for prescriptions issued to the practice and to individual prescribers.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice