We carried out a review of the data available to us about The Ridge Medical Practice 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 The Ridge Medical Practice, you can give feedback on this service.
This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 14 January 2019. This was to confirm that the practice had improved in the areas identified at an earlier inspection. We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Ridge Medical Practice on 28 November and 5 December 2017. The overall rating for the practice was good, with a rating of requires improvement for providing responsive services. We told the provider they should:
• Continue to review, act on and improve patient satisfaction in accessing services at the provider and in their interactions with clinical staff. Patient satisfaction in these areas was below local and national averages and highlighted as an issue of concern in patient feedback during the inspection.
• Review how strategic policy and decision making is shared by the senior leadership team across the wider staff team and patient population. Some staff we spoke with spoke with described a lack of effective communication across the organisation. Patient insights into why non-GP clinicians were offered in place of a doctor was not widely understood in some of the feedback we received during our inspection.
The full comprehensive report for that inspection (published on 29 January 2018) can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Ridge Medical Practice on our website at .
Our judgement of the quality of care at this service is based on a combination of what we found when we inspected, information from the provider, patients, public, other organisations and our ongoing monitoring of data about services.
Our findings from the most recent inspection confirm that:
This practice remains rated as good overall and is also now rated as good for providing responsive services.
At this inspection we found:
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence table.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
This practice is rated as Good overall, but Requires Improvement for providing responsive services.
The practice had been previously inspected on 19 July 2016 when it was rated as Good overall.
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Requires Improvement
Are services well-led? - Good
As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:
Older People – Good
People with long-term conditions – Good
Families, children and young people – Good
Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Ridge Medical Practice on the 28th November and 5th December 2017. The inspection was carried out as part of our inspection programme.
At this inspection we found:
The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
There was extensive evidence of clinical audit and implementation of learning across the clinical team
The provider was an Advanced Training Hub; this meant that a wide variety of clinicians including trainee GPs, paramedics, pharmacists and medical undergraduates attended placements at the provider.
The provider employed a number of clinical staff who had received enhanced training in the care of the children, the elderly, patients with mental illness and those with epilepsy.
Prescribing levels of antibiotics had been reduced in line with local and national targets.
The majority of patients told us that staff across the whole team were kind and caring and that they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect.
Results from the national GP patient survey showed that the provider was performing lower than the national average in terms of access and in some consultations with clinical staff.
Patients who were receiving end of life care were identified by the provider and care was effectively coordinated with their choices being actively met.
Patients frequently found it difficult to access routine appointments. However, they told us that they were usually able to access urgent care when they needed it.
There was a strong focus on continuous learning, clinical education and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
Volunteer Practice Champions from across the patient group actively supported various health promotion and well-being initiatives.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
Continue to review, act on and improve patient satisfaction in accessing services at the provider and in their interactions with clinical staff. Patient satisfaction in these areas was below local and national averages and highlighted as an issue of concern in patient feedback during the inspection.
Review how strategic policy and decision making is shared by the senior leadership team across the wider staff team and patient population. Some staff with spoke with described a lack of effective communication across the organisation. Patient insights into why non-GP clinicians were offered in place of a doctor was not widely understood in some of the feedback we received during our inspection.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Ridge Medical Practice on 19 July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
We saw areas of outstanding practice
Chief Inspector of General Practice