Palmerston Road Surgery

Updated 7 July 2022

Palmerston Road Surgery is situated in Buckhurst Hill, Essex. The practice is situated within the West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 4,470. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. The practice operates from one site. The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices within the Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell Primary Care Network (PCN).

Facilities at the practice include parking at the rear of the premises and there is a dedicated bay for those who are disabled. The practice is accessible by public transport and Buckhurst Hill underground station is a short walk away.

There are three full time GPs working there in partnership, two of whom are female and one male. There is one female Nurse practitioner and one practice nurse. There is also a full time and a part time Practice manager, supported by a team of reception and administration staff. A dietician, first contact practitioner, clinical pharmacist, podiatrist and a paramedic provide additional services through the local PCN.

The practice opens between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available between these times. GP sessions run each day in the morning (8.40am to 10.40am) and Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons (4.40pm to 6pm). On Tuesdays, afternoon surgery hours are extended until 7.30pm. The Nurse practitioner works full time and has daily sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

An extended hours service is available to book routine appointments with a GP, practice nurse or health care assistance in the evenings and at weekends. This service operates on Monday to Friday evenings 6.30pm to 10pm and Saturday and Sunday mornings from 8am to 2pm. When the service is closed patients can call NHS 111 for advice and treatment through a local out of hours service.

The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of; maternity and midwifery service, treatment of disease, disorder or injury, family planning, diagnostic and screening procedures and surgical procedures.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fifth lowest decile (five out 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 89% White, 5% Black 3.8% Asian,2.2% Mixed, and 0.5% Other.

The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages.

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered a choice of either the main GP location or the branch surgery.

Updated 7 July 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Palmerston Road Surgery on 15 June 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good

The key questions are rated as:

Safe - Good

Effective – Good

Caring – Good

Responsive – Good

Well-led – Good

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

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection as the first inspection under the new provider registration.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• 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 have rated this practice as good overall

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.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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-centred care.

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

• Improve staff understanding of the fire evacuation procedure, in particular the fire assembly point.
• Review sepsis awareness training for receptionists.
• Continue to ensure information is managed in line with current guidance and relevant legislation.
• Embed identified improvements in medicines monitoring processes and develop a programme of audit to measure their effectiveness.
• Continue to develop a system to demonstrate the prescribing competence of non-medical prescribers.
• Improve cervical cancer screening uptake in line with national targets.
• Implement actions identified within the practice’s Do Not Resuscitate improvement plan.
• Develop staff access to the Freedom to Speak Up Guardian for the practice.
• Continue to find ways, such as a patient participation group, to engage with patients and seek their feedback.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care