Dr RP Aurora's 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

The responsive key question remains rated as good. One quality statement, Equity in Access, was included in this assessment. The practice used people’s feedback and other evidence to actively seek to improve access for people. Services were designed to make them accessible and timely for people who were most likely to have difficulty accessing care. A series of embedded and comprehensive audits regarding access were used to drive improvement at the practice. The practice identified and allocated resources as required to improve inequalities and support equity of access.

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.

We did not look at Person-centred Care during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Care provision, Integration and continuity during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Providing Information during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Listening to and involving people during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

The practice understood the needs of its local population and had developed services in response to those needs. The practice told us they had a cloud based telephony system and monitored the volume of incoming calls, calls answered and abandoned calls. In December 2023 9.3% of calls were abandoned. This had improved to 8.7% in January 2024. The practice had increased the number of reception staff and adjusted the reception rota to increase staff during the 8am call influx. The practice undertook ongoing audits to determine demand and capacity regarding their appointment system and continued to monitor the availability of appointments and staff on a daily basis. Patients could access appointments by phone, online and by visiting the practice. The practice told us they did not use a triage system. A duty doctor was available all day from 8.30am until 6.30pm and if all the urgent appointments were filled, the duty doctor oversaw urgent requests and had face to face or telephone capacity to see additional patients. If required other doctors also saw additional patients and there was always a GP partner on site when the practice was open. Patients were given the option of a face to face or remote appointment. Patients who had a request for an emergency appointment were seen the same day at the practice where possible. The practice told us they did have access to the same day access hub and the extended access hub, but they tried to manage their own patient list for familiarity and continuity. The practice website provided information for patients regarding how to book an appointment. The range of options included by telephone, by visiting the practice, and online. Feedback from staff demonstrated people in vulnerable circumstances were able to register with the practice, including those with no fixed abode. Documents reviewed showed that clinical and non-clinical staff had completed training in learning disability and autism.

Patient appointments were available either online, face to face, by telephone, or as a home visit. Patients could book appointments by telephone, online, walking in and could also submit medical or admin requests online via the practice website. Patients could book routine appointments in advance and same-day appointments were available each morning. The practice also made use of a text message service to send and receive information from patients and an online software system to communicate with patients. The practice was open Monday to Friday from 8am – 6.30pm. Appointments were available from 8.30am – 1.45pm and 3.45pm - 6pm. The duty doctor was available all day. Additionally there were enhanced access hubs which the practice could use to book routine appointments, and same day access hubs for urgent appointment demand. The practice could book these appointments directly for patients. The practice offered access to a variety of clinical staff for example GPs, trainee GPs and a practice nurse. There were also other clinicians attached to the practice such as a community matron and physiotherapists. The practice is supported by a practice manager and an administration team. The practice had arrangements for prioritising patients. Emergency on the day appointments were available and when these were filled the duty doctor offered same day assessment and face to face or telephone appointments and home visits. The practice provided access to an interpretation service for patients who did not have English language as a first language and a sign language service for patients who required it. Additionally the practice had multi-lingual clinicians. The patient record system was used to alert staff to any access requirements the patient had to help enable effective communication. For example if the patient had a learning disability or was autistic. Capacity and demand is subject to daily review and formal audits of appointments and telephone calls are undertaken.

The GP patient survey (GPPS) data from 1 January to 31 March 2023 regarding access indicators found the practice had higher percentages than the England average across all indicators. 78% of respondents to the GP patient survey were positive regarding how easy it was to get through to someone at their GP practice on the phone. This indicated a significant positive variation compared to the England average of 50%. 86% of respondents were positive regarding the overall experience of making an appointment. This was identified as a positive variation compared to the England average of 54%. 77% of respondents were satisfied with their GP practice appointment times, which was a positive variation compared to the England average of 53%. 89% of respondents were satisfied with the appointment offered which was a positive variation compared to the England average of 72%. All 4 access indicators were on an upward trend across the previous 12 months from April 2022. The practice reviewed their GPPS data and told us they intended to ensure they maintained the current level of patient satisfaction by continuing to gain feedback from patients and undertaking ongoing access related reviews and audits. We found the practice took account of patient feedback and made changes accordingly. For example, the practice told us that most of their patients preferred to call the practice. To reduce demand on the incoming calls the practice had a telephone list where patients were contacted by message and asked to call the GP at a specific time. The practice received 274 friends and family responses in January 2024. Of these responses, 1 was poor, 2 were fair, 3 were neither good nor poor, 24 were good and 244 were very good. The comments included reflected that the staff were helpful, friendly, polite and kind and that GPs were attentive, professional, considerate, listened and were reassuring, prompt and efficient.

We did not look at Equity in experiences and outcomes during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.

We did not look at Planning for the future during this assessment. The score for this quality statement is based on the previous rating for Responsive.