The Merton Medical Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

We looked for evidence that the service met patients’ needs, and that staff treated patients equally and without discrimination.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as Good. At this assessment, the rating remains the same.

Patients were involved in decisions about their care. The service provided information patients could understand. Patients knew how to give feedback and were confident the service took it seriously and acted on it. The service was easy to access and worked to eliminate discrimination. Patients received fair and equal care and treatment. The service worked to reduce health and care inequalities through training and feedback. Patients were involved in planning their care and understood options around choosing to withdraw or not receive care.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service made sure patients were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with patients, how to respond to any relevant changes in patients’ needs.

Care plans reflected physical, mental, emotional, and social needs of patients including those related to protected characteristics under the Equality Act. Our review of clinical records showed patients were supported to understand their condition and were involved in planning for their care needs. They were also involved in decisions about their care.

The national GP patient survey data collected between December 2024 and April 2025 showed 82% of participants said the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern during their last general practice appointment this was slightly below the local average of 87% and national average of 86%.

The practice had completed their own patient survey in September 2025 and provided unverified data which demonstrated higher levels of patient satisfaction.

The practice had access to interpreter services, including British Sign Language (BSL) and online translation services.

The service understood the diverse health and care needs of patients and their local communities, so care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity.

We saw the practice worked in partnership with other services to meet the needs of its patient population. The practice had tailored its services to meet the diverse needs of its community for example, the practice had carried out engagement work with 200 asylum seekers based locally in a hotel with complex needs building relationships with community groups to promote the take up of screening programmes. There were established mechanisms for engaging with the community healthcare provider.

The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs.

Information to promote the take up of screening and immunisation programmes was available in a range of languages. The practice had access to interpreter services, including British Sign Language. Information provided by the service met the Accessible Information Standard. Patients were informed as to how to access their care records.

The national GP patient survey data collected between December 2024 and April 2025 showed that 34% of patients found it easy to contact the service using their website. This was lower than the localaverage of 58% national averages of 51%.

The practice had completed their own patient survey in September 2025 and provided unverified data which demonstrated higher levels of patient satisfaction.

Staff commented on the new appointment booking system effective from May 2025 and explained the practice was able to offer telephone and face-to-face interpreting services including BSL for patients who needed this and reasonable adjustments were made for these appointments as needed.

The practice updated their website to make it more accessible for patients, they had a hearing loop. They also provided leaflets in different languages, and easy to read leaflets and reading materials in different formats. The practice would ask patients how they would like to be communicated with and would adapt accordingly. In the reception area we saw a “call board” with symbols, the practice explained it’s a communication method used for patients who were non-verbal so they could point to symbols.

The service made it easy for patients to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They involved patients in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result.

We saw complaints were managed in line with the practice’s policy. Learning from complaints was evident and staff were able to identify changes made as a result of patient feedback, including complaints.

We reviewed 3 complaints in detail and found the process to be satisfactory. Learning from incidents and complaints resulted in changes that improved care for others. We saw complaints were managed in line with the service’s policy. The complaints policy was available on the practice website and included information for patients about how to contact the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.

The practice also had a “you said/we did” displayed in the reception area of feedback from patients on things they had listened to and changed.

The service made sure that patients could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. The practice had things in place to ensure patients could access the service. This included wheelchair accessible premises on the ground floor only.

The national GP Patient Survey data collected between December 2024 to April 2025 showed lower than average patient satisfaction with access to services. 45% of patients responded positively when asked how easy it was to contact their GP practice on the telephone (local average 61%, national average 53%). 70% of patients responded positively when asked about their overall experience of their GP practice (local average 79%, national average 75%).

The practice had completed their own patient survey in September 2025 and provided unverified data which demonstrated higher levels of patient satisfaction.

As a result of the survey results the practice had matched capacity to demand, changed some of the phone settings, for example rather than having several options before a patient could speak to a staff member they reduced the number of phone options to 3 and included information about self-referrals to local services such as physiotherapy, they completed an audit and their own patient survey to measure impact.

In response to the National GP Patient Survey data and from feedback from members of the community the provider had identified changes to improve access to the service. For example they had extended appointments for patients with a learning disability. Patients could access the service to suit their needs for example online, in person and by telephone. Treatment rooms were available on the ground floor and a ramp and automatic door had been fitted to the entrance.

The practice hosted late evening appointments in the midweek (until 8pm) and daytime on Saturday (9-5) to provide additional GP and nursing capacity. This was for their patients as well as patients from 4 other practices in the primary care network (PCN).

In May 2025 the practice moved to a new appointment system for patients. Patients could complete a form via the practice website/NHS app, or the practice could complete for a patient, each clinical request was reviewed daily. The practice had received positive feedback on this, the PPG also reflected this.

The practice participated in a digital day event working with the PCN targeting patients who were recognised as having health inequalities, including limited digital skills, 28 patients from Merton Medical Practice attended this meeting. They were educated on using the NHS app including how to seek support and book appointments.

Staff and leaders actively listened to information about patients who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes and tailored their care, support and treatment in response to this.

Feedback provided by patients using the service, both to the provider as well as to CQC, was positive. Staff treated patients equally and without discrimination.

We saw that all clinical and non-clinical staff had completed the mandatory training requirement on learning disability and autism. Annual health checks were offered to all patients with a learning disability and autism, extra time such as double appointments were offered.

Leaders proactively sought ways to address any barriers to improving patients’ experience and worked with local organisations, including within the voluntary sector, to address any local health inequalities. Staff understood the importance of providing an inclusive approach to care and made adjustments to support equity in patients’ experience and outcomes. The provider had processes to ensure patients could register at the practice, including those in vulnerable circumstances such as homeless patients and Travellers. Staff used appropriate systems to capture and review feedback from patients using the service, including those who did not speak English or have access to the internet.

Patients were supported to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.

Our records review showed patients were supported to consider their wishes for their end-of-life care, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation. This information was shared with other services when necessary.

Staff kept a palliative care register and told us patients were reviewed according to their needs and discussed during practice clinical meetings. The service had processes in place to review if care and preferences had been met in line with patients wishes.