Background to this inspection
Updated
4 August 2021
Oaklands Health Centre is located in Hythe at:
Stade Street
Hythe
Kent
CT21 6BD
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.
The practice is situated within the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 11,599. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. They are part of The Valleys Health and Social Care Primary Network.
Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fourth least deprived decile (seven 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 predominately white with 97% of their patient population identifying as such.
There is a team of five GPs, Two male GP partners and a salaried male and a female GP and a locum GP (female). The practice has an extensive nursing team, consisting of four advanced nurse practitioners who are able to prescribe medicines and lead on triaging patients. The practice also benefits for a further four practice nurses who among their duties include specialist clinic’s for long-term conditions and travel vaccinations. The team also has a further three healthcare assistants and a phlebotomist. All staff are supported by a team of reception/administration staff under the management of the practice manager and business manager.
Oaklands Health Centre has been accredited as being suitable for the training of Foundation Year 2 (FY2) doctors by NHS Health Education Kent Surrey and Sussex. The practice is not currently training medical students.
Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered an appointment at Oaklands Health Centre.
Extended hours appointments are provided at Oaklands Health Centre, where evening and weekend appointments are available. The Primary Care Network also offer Improved Access appointments across all member sites. This provides their patients with greater appointment options.
Updated
4 August 2021
Following our previous inspection on 29 May 2019, the practice was rated Requires Improvement overall and for safe, effective and well led. The practice was rated good for caring and responsive.
We carried out an announced inspection at Oaklands Health Centre on 6 July 2021 and 7 July 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as good.
Safe - good
Effective - good
Well-led - good
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Oaklands Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This inspection was a comprehensive review of information conducted remotely whilst also undertaking a site visit inspection to follow up on:
Performance of the practice in safe, effective and well led domains. In particular we inspected the management of medicine alerts and the identification of and support provided to carers.
How we carried out the inspection
Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.
This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.
This included:
- Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
- Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
- Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
- Requesting evidence from the provider in advance of the remote and onsite visits
- A short site visit
Our findings
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 and good for all population groups
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 dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 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.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Ensure that all records are reflective of actions taken.
- Avoid dual recording systems.
- Consider a narrative analysis of audits to evidence findings, capturing improvement and learning.
- Revisit learning to ensure it is embedded into practice.
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