Hythe Medical Centre

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

We looked for evidence that the practice met people’s needs, and that staff treated people equally and without discrimination.

This is the first inspection for this practice since its registration with CQC. This key question has been rated as good.

This service scored 79 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The practice made sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs.

Care plans reflected the needs of patients including those related to protected characteristics under the Equality Act. The practice leaders had identified holistic care as one of their core values, and encouraged all staff to consider the physical, emotional and social needs of patients when delivering care. Practice leaders had established links with various religious communities locally and understood their diverse needs and preferences for health care provision. For example, the practice was aware that some religions prefer to bury their dead within certain time frames, and aimed to assist with compliance by avoiding administrative delays.

Our review of clinical records showed patients were supported to understand their condition and were involved in planning for their care needs. Accessible standards and barriers to care were considered and ,where identified, alerts were added to medical records so that reception were aware upon contact that the person had additional needs.

The practice had an exceptional understanding of the diverse health and care needs of people and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. We saw the practice worked in partnership with other services to meet the needs of its patient population. The practice had tailored its services to meet the diverse needs of its community, for example, building relationships with community groups to understand what was important to them.

Referrals, including urgent referrals, were managed efficiently and all staff understood their responsibilities within the process. Established processes included multiple checks of completion and outcomes. Fail-safes were built in to ensure effective oversight of logs, and all staff worked to the same goal of clearing referral tasks daily, to avoid unnecessary delays. Audits of the process then highlighted where changes were needed to enable improvements to be implemented.

There were established mechanisms for engaging with the community healthcare provider and staff, including leaders, worked at Primary Care Network (PCN) and GP Federation level. Strong links with these services enabled improvement work to be undertaken at a larger scale to benefit the wider local community. For example, the practice had been involved in work at PCN level, to improve asthma care by increasing uptake of annual reviews and optimising inhaler prescribing in line with national guidance. Audits of this work showed evidence of the practice inhaler prescribing having reduced to below the national average in all target areas.

This established, collaborative work enabled the needs of the practice patient population to be represented when planning community services, and the practice hoped to offer space for community services to operate from its new premises. Leaders shared with us their ambition to facilitate community services at scale to benefit their own patients and those in the wider locality.

The practice supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

Information to promote the take up of screening and immunisation programmes was available in a range of languages. The practice had access to interpreter services, including British Sign Language. The practice had identified diverse language abilities within their own staff team who were able to provide translation services where appropriate. For example, in times of urgent need. The appointment sign-in screen was available in multiple languages through the language selection facility.

Patients were informed as to how to access their care records and staff could provide assistance in using digital services where appropriate and desired. Recent work undertaken to identify reasonable adjustments meant that more patients were able to receive communication from the practice in a way that best suited them.

The practice made it easy for people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved people in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

We found complaints were managed in line with the practice policy. We reviewed complaints received by the practice and saw they had been managed in line with the policy, with acknowledgements, findings, response letters, apologies and learning all recorded. Learning from complaints was evident, and staff we spoke with were able to provide examples of changes made to improve care and administrative processes.

A recent change made in response to feedback was an improvement in support offered to newly bereaved individuals. The practice had introduced a process to send condolences and information about bereavement services, after the death of a patient. This was considered a continuation of the practice commitment to a high standard of care for those at the end of their life.

Leaders reviewed and audited feedback and comments received as part of the NHS Friends and Family Test. They identified areas of negative feedback and discussed them directly with staff involved, to identify areas of training needs or support. Positive feedback and praise were also shared with the wider team to ensure that staff understood their value and impact when providing a good service.

The practice made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed, when they needed it.

People could access the practice to suit their needs; online, in person or by telephone. Results from the National GP Patient Survey 2026 showed that 61% of respondents found it easy to contact the practice by phone, compared to the national average of 57%. Overall responses for those indicating a good experience of contacting their GP practice were lower at 69%, compared to the national average of 73%.

The digital triage system prioritised the greatest need and offered bookable appointments at the point of request, when indicated by inputted symptoms. Telephone lines prioritised those with specific vulnerabilities such as individuals receiving end of life care. Team leads in reception had oversight of call volumes and waiting times, and were able to utilise additional administrative staff during times of increased demand. The NHS app was available for accessing appointments and digital care records, and training was offered to patients who wanted to use this service.

Extended hours appointments were provided nearby and presented availability at evenings and weekends, addressing the difficulty of those working normal office hours. Home visits were provided for the housebound patient cohort as necessary and additionally by the vulnerable patient project which has been recently started.

Treatment rooms were all on ground level and ramp access was in place. Wheelchair access had been considered within the limited space of the current main site and remained a high priority in planning the new build.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

Feedback provided by people using the service, both to the provider as well as to CQC, was positive. Staff treated people equally and without discrimination. The practice had identified vulnerable patients who may be in need of extra support, and digital flags were added to records for staff awareness. The automated registration system had the ability to identify vulnerabilities in the given information, and alerted staff to the possibility of additional needs.

Staff understood the importance of providing an inclusive approach to care and made adjustments to support equity in people’s experience and outcomes. For example, the practice undertook the care of a large group of asylum seekers who were housed in facilities locally. They worked with specialist community services and translators to identify specific needs and delivered care at their housing facilities. Sustained efforts to form positive relationships with this group had resulted in the retention of a significant number of them as registered patients. We were also told of ways that staff had adapted their care provision to meet the needs of individuals, such as additional time for providing information and support with decision making.

Leaders sought ways to address any barriers to improving people’s experience and worked with local organisations, including within the voluntary sector, to address any local health inequalities. Staff used appropriate systems to capture and review feedback from people using the service, including those who did not speak English or have access to the internet.

People were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

Our records review showed people were supported to consider their wishes for their end-of-life care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This information was shared with other services when necessary. The practice had audited the documentation in place for each DNACPR (do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) decision and made improvements to their care provision for those at the end of their lives. For example, these patients were given priority access to care through telephone and digital triage systems. They were also offered home visits to complete care activities and to allow enhanced discussions and documentation of wishes and plans. The practice shared their desire to audit the impact of this work once fully established, and to consider its wider use within the local community in the PCN (primary care network) area.

The practice had also improved its provision of end-of-life care for patients who were resident in the local care home, by providing staff training and equipment. This was intended to help staff respond to people’s care needs promptly and support them to receive compassionate and safe care in familiar surroundings. Bereavement support services were advertised at the practice, on the practice website and proactively offered to families following the loss of a loved one.