The Care Quality Commission
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  • GP practice

Parkwood Surgery

Overall: Requires improvement read more about inspection ratings

Parkwood Drive, Warners End, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 2LD (01442) 250117

Provided and run by:
Parkwood Surgery

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment:

We conducted an assessment between 29 and 30 April 2025. We also undertook further remote assessment checks between 2 September and 11 September 2025

 

Parkwood Surgery is located in Parkwood Drive, Warners End, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 2LD. The provider is registered with CQC as a partnership to deliver the regulated activities: diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. The practice is situated within the Herts and West Essex Integrated Care Board (HWEICB) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 16,490 people. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices within the Beta Primary Care Network (PCN). The practice partnership comprises of 2 GP clinical partners. There was no Registered Manager at the time of assessment.

Information published by the 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. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 87% White, 5.4% Asian, 2.9% Black, 3.3% Mixed and 1.1% other ethnicity. The practice population had an equal percentage of males and females and a larger population of patients aged between 35 to 44 years of age. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.

Parkwood Surgery has 2 branch surgeries located in Boxmoor and Gadebridge. At the time of assessment, the practice was progressing plans to close these 2 branch surgeries to consolidate services and focus delivery of care from solely the main site at Parkwood Drive. Access to services will continue to be maintained from the main site.

The practice is open between 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Dacorum Extended Access provides additional face-to-face GP appointments between 6pm to 9pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm on Saturday from Highfield Surgery. Out of hours services are provided by NHS 111.

Parkwood Surgery is a training/teaching practice with trainee GPs and trainee hospital doctors.

Practice staff comprised of 2 GP clinical partners, 8 salaried and locum GPs. The team also comprised of 1 full-time business and practice manager, 4 nurses, 3 healthcare assistants, 1 paramedic, 1 pharmacy technician, 1 care-co-ordinator, 1 pharmacist and 17 reception and administration staff. They were also supported by a mental health worker and a first contact physiotherapist, both recruited by the PCN.

Services provided include chronic disease management, minor surgery, social prescribing, travel vaccinations, travel advice, contraception and family planning advice, counselling, NHS health checks, non-NHS services, smoking cessation, first contact physiotherapy, child health and childhood immunisations, sexual health advice, phlebotomy and NHS screening.

The main building underwent a major extension and full refurbishment which was completed in 2022. The assessed premises is a purpose-built 3 floor building.

We carried out a comprehensive assessment in April 2025. Following the April 2025 inspection, we issued the provider with a Letter of Intent (LOI) on 2 May 2025 to notify them of potential urgent enforcement action. The LOI outlined serious concerns regarding the regulated activities of safe care and treatment and good governance and required the provider to submit documentary evidence within 7 days via an action plan. This was to reassure us that identified risks had been removed or were in the process of being mitigated. Failure to do so would have resulted in immediate enforcement measures.

The provider, working with the support of the ICB, responded promptly with an action plan detailing steps to address the concerns. The practice continued to submit weekly action plans which were reviewed by the assessment team and the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Further assessment activity took place in September 2025 to seek assurance on progress and as a result, we have rated the practice Requires Improvement overall.

During our assessment, we found the provider to be in breach of our regulations in relation to safe care and treatment and good governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.

The practice website can be found at parkwoodsurgery.nhs.uk

20 June 2017

During an inspection looking at part of the service

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Parkwood Surgery on 22 November 2016. The overall rating for this practice was good with the practice rated as requires improvement for safe as breaches of legal requirements were found. After the comprehensive inspection, the practice wrote to us and submitted an action plan outlining the actions they would take to meet legal requirements in relation to;

  • Regulation 12 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 – safe care and treatment.

From the inspection on 22 November 2016, the practice were told they must:

  • Ensure that appropriate infection control standards are maintained in all areas of the practice to reduce risks to patients and staff including infection control auditing.

In addition, the practice were told they should:

  • Continue to monitor and support patients with caring responsibilities.

The full comprehensive report on the inspection carried out in November 2016 can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Parkwood Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was an announced focused inspection carried out on 20 June 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulation that we identified in our previous inspection on 22 November 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • The practice had assigned infection control responsibilities to a suitably trained and competent person.
  • Appropriate standards of infection control were maintained throughout the building and improvements had been made to areas previously identified as of concern.
  • The practice had been proactive in seeking support and guidance on infection control requirements from appropriate professionals. They had also provided additional training to staff to ensure new protocols were understood.
  • The practice had developed systems to identify and support carers within their population. The practice had identified 315 patients as carers (approximately 1.8% of the total patient list) and had been awarded the Carer’s Gold Standard Award by the Herts Valley Clinical Commissioning Group for the work they had done to support carers. We saw that the practice had successfully established a walking group for patients; including carers and their dependants.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

22 November 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Parkwood Surgery on 22 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • The majority of risks to patients were assessed and well managed, however improvements needed to be made to managing risks associated with infection control.
  • 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 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.
  • In collaboration with the PPG, the practice facilitated patient education evenings twice a year led by a member of the clinical team or a guest speaker. These sessions were used as an opportunity to provide information on specific health topics, such as dementia
  • 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.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice was involved in a national pilot programme to provide services to patients identified as pre-diabetic. The programme aimed to provide patients identified as at risk of developing diabetes with access to a health education programme to reduce the risk of them developing diabetes. The practice was one of only seven practices in the country partaking in the pilot and at the time of our inspection had contacted 300 patients to invite them to join the programme. In addition, following a patient education evening on dementia, the practice expanded training for staff to ensure they understood how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

The area where the provider must make improvement is:

  • Ensure that appropriate infection control standards are maintained in all areas of the practice to reduce risks to patients and staff including infection control auditing.

In addition the provider should:

  • Continue to monitor and support patients with caring responsibilities.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice