14 May 2014
During a routine inspection
The Church Lane Practice is a large GP practice based in Merton, providing primary care services to over 16 000 patients. The practice has two sites, The Church Lane and The Patrick Doody site which is a satellite location and has the same patient list as the Church Lane site. During our inspection we visited the Church Lane Practice.
During our inspection we spoke with GPs, the practice manager, the business support manager, practice nurses, nurse practitioner, reception and administrative staff.We also spoke with patients and a mental health advocate group representative.
All of the patients we spoke with reported that they were satisfied with the service they had received. They reported receiving a good service at the practice and felt well cared for. Eight comments cards we received demonstrated that patients were pleased with the care given to them.
The practice was well managed and patients received care that was effective, and caring. We found some areas of improvement in the safety of the care provided and how the practice responded to the care of people experiencing poor mental health.
Older people had a named GP and emergency appointments were always offered to this population group. The practice operated a walk in triage system and babies and small children were prioritised for same day appointments. Extended opening hours were available at a satellite clinic and this enabled the working age people to attend the surgery at times that suited them.
Patients were able to book appointments and request for prescriptions online and this allowed flexibility for all population groups.
The practice worked well with people in vulnerable circumstances, for example the local Faith in Action group which provided accommodation to local homeless people.
People experiencing poor mental health were offered an annual health check and the practice worked in partnership with other providers. However an advocate felt that the appointments system for this population group could be improved to enable them to book appointments flexibly.
The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening, and treatment of diseases and injury.