27 November 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Abbey Medical Practice on 27 November. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
Safe - good
Effective - good
Caring – not inspected, rating of good carried forward from the previous inspection.
Responsive - good
Well-led - good
Following our previous inspection on 4 and 5 October 2016, 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 Abbey 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.
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:
- 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.
- A short site visit.
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.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
- The practice had listened to patients and made improvements to how patients could access the practice and make appointments.
- Feedback from patients was pre-dominantly positive about the practice and the staff, particularly those who answered the telephones.
- The National GP Patient survey showed an upward trend in patient satisfaction from the previous year in all 4 indicators which all scored higher than local and national averages.
- Feedback from staff was pre-dominantly positive about working in the practice and the support they received from the GPs and practice management.
- The practice were below targets for the uptake of cervical screening. Measures had been put in place to increase the uptake.
- Some patients were overdue monitoring of their conditions. The practice had made attempts to contact them but no further measures were put in place to encourage engagement.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue to take measures to increase the uptake of cervical screening.
- Explore measures to encourage patients to engage and undertake monitoring of their conditions.
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