Emmer Green Surgery

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

The practice was responsive to the needs of the local population. The telephone system at the practice was recently upgraded in an attempt to improve the patient experience and access. There was a capacity management systems that were in place to align staffing numbers with demand. Provider had a flexible approach to staffing level and adjusted them as required to ensure sufficient staffing and skills mix. Practice leaders we spoke with discussed plans to continue to monitor and improve access through regular review of actions taken to manage the needs of the population groups.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

Interviews with staff members demonstrated that they had a good understanding of the local patient population and their needs. We were told that all reception team were trained in care navigation and were able to signpost patients to the most appropriate clinician or service. All new staff reception staff underwent intensive care navigation training and worked closely with the reception lead. Where a receptionist was concerned about a patient this was flagged to the duty doctor who also provided clinical oversight and support to the reception team. The practice was open until 6.30pm from Monday to Friday. Pre-bookable appointments were also available to all patients on every second Saturday once a month. Additional appointments were available on Monday and Thursday late evenings from 6.30 until 8.00pm. They understood the needs of their local population and had installed a new telephone system which offered improved features such as call back and enhanced data to assess demand and supply. The provider adjusted the delivery of its services to meet the needs of patients. A high-priority flags were placed on a patient’s medical record to identify patients and to offer any support required for the appointment. Patients who required follow up appointments were contacted via the messaging system. The practice intended to continue exploring methods to educate their patient population about the range of appointments offered at the practice and about the various staff and health care professionals employed by the practice. All consulting rooms were located on the ground floor and reasonable adjustments had been made to ensure the premises were accessible to patients who required disabled access.

National GP Patient survey results for the practice were above the local and England averages. The patient survey results outlined the practice has performed above averages consistently over the last 2 years for all the four indicators. The percentage of respondents to the GP patient survey who responded positively to how easy it was to get through to someone at their GP practice on the phone was 73.2%. This indicator was higher than national average of 49.6%. Also, the percentage of respondents to the GP patient survey who responded positively to the overall experience of making an appointment was 62.7%. This indicator has been consistently above local and national results since 2022. There was evidence of active and positive interaction with the patient participation group (PPG). The group met with staff from the practice monthly and were consulted for improvements to the practice. For example, offering more face-to-face appointments to meet the needs of the local population. The practice analysed themes and trends from the Family and Friends Survey. We saw examples of positive feedback about friendly, helpful and professional staff. Data from the practice’s Friends and Family test for the 2 months for November and December 2023 provided consistently positive feedback about the quality of the service provided.

There were face to face appointments, telephone appointments and home visits where required with various health care professionals including the GPs, pharmacist, advanced nurse practitioner, and the social prescriber. Patients were offered a choice of appointment on the same day they contacted the practice. When these appointments were full, any urgent calls were referred to the duty doctor at the practice. At the time of this assessment, the check on the availability of the appointments for patients showed that there were routine prebookable appointment slots available for the following week. The provider shared the reception triage document detailing the triage process which ensured patients were only booked with appropriate clinicians, in line with their competencies. They were aware of the requirements to meet the ‘Accessible information standards’. The practice had access posters available in different languages to support people who did not have their first language as English. A variety of services were offered which included, wound care, travel immunisations and NHS health checks.

We did not look at Equity in experiences and outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.