The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Strawberry Hill Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Old Bath Road, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1JU (01635) 917917

Provided and run by:
Strawberry Hill Medical Centre

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Strawberry Hill Medical Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.

This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.

If you have concerns about Strawberry Hill Medical Centre, you can give feedback on this service.

2 May 2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Strawberry Hill Medical Centre on 2 May 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

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 rated the practice as good for providing safe, effective, caring and responsive services and outstanding for providing well-led services.

We rated patients with long-term conditions as requires improvement for effective which made this population group requires improvement overall.

We rated the population group people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable as outstanding for effective and responsive services.

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 responded to patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. 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-centre care.
  • There was compassionate, inclusive and effective leadership at all levels and the practice had a clear vision and strategy to provide high quality care.
  • The practice worked with other agencies and with the multi-disciplinary team within the practice to ensure patients whose circumstances make them vulnerable were identified and had access to quality care and treatment.

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

15 August 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice


We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Strawberry Hill Medical Centre on 15 August 2016. The practice is rated a good in the safe, effective, caring and responsive domains and outstanding for the well led domain. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • A comprehensive merge and relocation plan had led to the successful opening of Strawberry Hill Medical Centre in April 2016. Staff reported being involved in the merger of the two practices and they had been kept up to date with the progress.
  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Patients with mental health needs and those living in vulnerable circumstances were well supported by the practice in a primary care environment. From the patients we reviewed all had received appropriate follow ups and medical condition reviews. The practice also liaised with local organisations in order to support patients with their social needs.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

Outstanding practice:

The practice had a proactive approach to equality and diversity. The relocation plan had proactively considered equality and diversity in the development of the building and the provision of services to all patients. Following a complaint regarding discrimination, the practice had undertaken an audit to demonstrate equality and diversity in the care and treatment of patients. The audit reviewed how long patients with non-British sounding names waited to be seen for appointments. Following the initial audit the practice noted a slight and increased difference between waiting times for these patients. A presentation to the practice team led to discussion about equality and diversity and the agreement a second audit should be undertaken. The second audit demonstrated that all patients seen within the defined period were waiting to be seen for similar times, which was an improvement from the first audit.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

  • Continue to develop the patient participation group in order to support the practice, enhance communication with the GPs and allow a programme of improvements for patients.

  • Ensure the signage in the practice is improved to help patients locate the correct room and floor for their appointment.

  • Review the patient information point and improve the signage to highlight and advertise this useful resource for patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice