Background to this inspection
Updated
12 March 2018
Whitchurch Surgery is a small semi-rural dispensing practice in Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire which is approximately five miles north of Aylesbury. Whitchurch Surgery is one of the practices within Aylesbury Vale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provides general medical services to approximately 3,900 registered patients.
All services are provided from:
- Whitchurch Surgery, 49 Oving Road, Whitchurch, Near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP22 4JF.
The practice comprises of two GP Partners (one male, one female) and two salaried GPs (one male, one female). The all-female nursing team consists of three practice nurses, one of which is a chronic disease nurse, and a phlebotomist.
A practice manager, an assistant practice manager and a team of six reception and administrative staff undertake the day to day management and running of the practice.
One of the GPs is the designated dispensary lead and the dispensary team consists of one dispensing technician and three dispensers.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, Whitchurch has high levels of affluence, low incidence of substance misuse and severe mental health problems and low levels of deprivation.
The practice population has a lower proportion of patients aged under 18 when compared to the local CCG and national averages whilst there is a significantly higher proportion of patients aged 65 and over. Whitchurch Surgery provides GP services to two local care homes (11 patients) which support individuals with severe learning and physical disabilities.
The practice has core opening hours between 8am and 6.30pm every weekday, with the exception of Thursdays when the practice closes at 6pm. Morning appointments are between 8am and 1pm, afternoon appointments are between 2pm and 6.20pm. There were no extended hour’s surgeries available. The dispensary has core opening hours between 9am and 6pm every weekday with the exception of Thursdays when the dispensary closes at 1pm.
The practice opted out of providing the out-of-hours service. This service is provided by the out-of-hours service accessed via the NHS 111 service. Advice on how to access the out-of-hours service is clearly displayed on the practice website, on the practice door and over the telephone when the surgery is closed.
Updated
12 March 2018
At our previous comprehensive inspection at Whitchurch Surgery in Buckinghamshire on 5 October 2017 we found a breach of regulations relating to the provision of safe, effective and well-led services. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement. Specifically, the practice was rated requires improvement for the provision of safe, effective and well-led services. The concerns which led to these ratings apply to everyone using the practice, therefore all population groups were also rated requires improvement. The practice was rated good for the provision of caring and responsive services.
The full comprehensive report on the October 2017 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Whitchurch Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 5 March 2018 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection in October 2017. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and improvements made since our last inspection.
We found the practice had made improvements since our last inspection. At our inspection on the 5 March 2018 we found the practice was meeting the regulations that had previously been breached. We have amended the rating for this practice to reflect these changes. The practice is now rated good for the provision of safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led services. Overall the practice is now rated as good. All six population groups have also been re-rated following these improvements and are also rated as good.
Our key findings were as follows:
- There was now an overarching governance framework which supported the delivery of the good quality care.
- The practice had re-established and was now operating safe and effective systems to assess, manage and mitigate the risks identified relating to patient safety, medicine safety and device alerts.
- A system had been introduced to ensure that appropriate monitoring for all patients in receipt of high risk medicines was in place.
- Patient information needed to plan and deliver care and treatment was now available in a timely and accessible way. There was managerial oversight of the correspondence system used to allocate patient summaries from external services. Previous concerns about delays and a backlog of correspondence had been addressed.
- A programme of quality improvement activity had been reintroduced; this included completed and live clinical audits.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Families, children and young people
Updated
12 March 2018
Working age people (including those recently retired and students)
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12 March 2018
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia)
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12 March 2018
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable
Updated
12 March 2018