Alchester Medical Group

Updated 20 May 2026

Date of inspection: 3 June 2026

Alchester Medical Group is a 3 site GP practice and delivers services to approximately 21,765 patients under a contract held with NHS England.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 88.8% White, 5.1% Asian, 3% Mixed, 1.8% Black and 1.3% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 10th decile (10 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others.

This was a focused inspection. We undertook this inspection due to the length of time since our last inspection. We assessed 10 quality statements from across all 5 key questions. This inspection 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.

• SAFE: Staff kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. They assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience.

• EFFECTIVE: Staff understood the health priorities of the population and supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes.

• CARING: Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity.

• RESPONSIVE: People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers.

• WELL-LED: The practice had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.

Updated 20 May 2026

As part of our inspection, we reviewed feedback from people who used the practice to understand their views and experience. This included speaking with people using the practice at the time of our inspection and reviewing other feedback available to us. People were positive about the quality of their care and treatment.

This was mirrored in the results of recent surveys, including the 2025 National GP Patient Survey, which showed people were satisfied, especially regarding clinical consultations, patients reported high levels of satisfaction regarding the care and attention provided by staff.

Patient feedback highlighted staff being kind and compassionate. Further feedback highlighted examples of practice staff providing a friendly, accessible and caring service, this included the reception, dispensary and the clinical teams.

The practice promoted and monitored patient feedback, collected via the NHS ‘Friends and Family’ Test results. We reviewed the most recent responses collected and verified from February 2026 (993 responses), March 2026 (851 responses) and April 2026 (769 responses). Using the combined responses from the last 3 months, 97% rated the service received at the practice as either ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’.

There was an active and growing patient participation group (PPG) who represented the views of people using the service. A representative from the PPG described how they worked with the practice to make improvements, this included reviewing the practice website, suggesting changes to the layout of the practice waiting areas and more recently working with the local Integrated Care Board in response to significant growth within Bicester and the surrounding areas.