- GP practice
Pembroke Surgery
Report from 3 February 2025 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 18 March 2025 Pembroke Surgery is a 2 site GP practice in Reading, Berkshire and delivers services to 6,900 patients under a contract held with NHS England within Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB). Patients can access services from both sites, Pembroke Surgery (referred to as the main practice) and Eldon Square (referred to as the branch practice). The National General Practice Profiles states that the age profile of the practice population largely follows local and national averages with the exception of a significantly higher proportion of patients aged between 25 and 39 when compared to the local and national average. Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the 8th decile (8 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. We, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) carried out this inspection in response to concerns we received about the service. The last inspection was completed in March 2016 and the practice had a Good overall rating. At this inspection we reviewed 6 quality statements as part of safe and well-led key questions and have combined the scores for these areas with scores from the last inspection (March 2016). The overall rating following this inspection is ‘Good’. Staff understood and managed risks to maintain a safe environment for staff, patients and visitors. The facilities and equipment met the needs of people, were clean and well-maintained and had any risks mitigated. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience.
People's experience of this service
People were positive about the quality of their care and treatment. Recent survey results, including from the National GP Patient Survey and the NHS Friends and Family Test, showed people were satisfied with services. Specifically, feedback regarding access was higher when compared to local and national averages.
The practice promoted and monitored patient feedback that was collected via the NHS Friends and Family Test results. We reviewed the most recent responses collected and verified from December 2024 (43 responses) and January 2025 (52 responses). On review, the vast majority of comments were positive and highlighted how responsive the practice was.
Feedback from a care home whose residents accessed GP services from the practice was positive. The care home praised the practice for their responsiveness, and care which included ward rounds, medication reviews and access to a dedicated direct communication channel with the practice to assist urgent requests and communication. Through our discussions, it was evident practice staff were committed to working in partnership with the care home staff and residents.
As part of this inspection, we spoke with 4 patients who were registered at the practice. All of them were positive about the practice and highlighted the benefits of continuity of care with the long-standing GP and also the traditional family values within the practice.
At the time of the inspection, the patient participation group (PPG) who represented the views of people using the service was inactive. However, the practice was working with a small cohort of patients to develop a new patient group to determine how improvements can be made for the benefit of patients and the practice. We spoke with several patients who were part of the new group, they were positive about the practice as a patient and also looking forward to working with the practice as a member of the PPG.