Background to this inspection
Updated
11 April 2019
School Lane Surgery is located in Thetford, Norfolk and the NHS South Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area.
The practice is a partnership of four which includes three GPs and a non-clinical managing partner. One GP partner holds the role of senior partner within the practice. Of the three clinical GP partners two are male and one is female.
In addition to the three partner GPs, four associate GPs, all female, are employed at the practice, as well as a nurse manager, a nurse practitioner, five practice nurses, two healthcare assistants, an emergency care practitioner, a physiotherapist, a physician associate. The clinical team is supported by a team of administrators and receptionists, as well as a practice manager and compliance manager.
The practice has a patient population of approximately 11,881. The practice’s demographics differ from the CCG average in which the practice population has a lower than average number of patients aged 65 and over and a high proportion of patients aged 18 years and under.
The practice is open between the hours of 8.30am and 5pm daily, apart from Tuesdays when the practice is closed between 1pm and 2pm. Additional appointments are available between 6.30pm and 8pm every weekday evening and 8.30am to 11.30am Saturday mornings, Sundays and Bank Holidays through participating GP surgeries within the Thetford and Watton area. Whilst the practice is closed, patients can also access support out of hours through the NHS 111 service by another health care provider, IC24.
The practice is a training practice for those doctors wishing to train as GPs. In addition to this, the practice is an accredited research practice.
Updated
11 April 2019
This practice is rated as Good overall. At the previous inspection in February 2015 the practice were rated as good overall.
The key questions at this inspection are rated as:
Are services safe? – Good
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? – Good
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at School Lane Surgery on 5 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.
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 concluded that:
- The practice’s performance on Quality Outcomes Framework indicators was generally in line with, or above, CCG and England averages.
- The practice’s performance for cancer screening indicators was lower than CCG and England averages.
- Patients told us they were pleased with the care and treatment provided at the practice and were universal in their praise for the caring nature demonstrated by staff.
- We saw evidence that where things had gone wrong, the practice had taken action in a prompt manner and could evidence learning had been shared amongst staff.
- We found members of staff we spoke with had a clear knowledge of safeguarding processes at the practice.
- The practice employed a number of clinical staff including; a physician associate, a physiotherapist, an emergency care practitioner and a care coordinator.
- Members of staff we spoke with were positive about working at the practice, the morale amongst staff and the leadership team.
- We found the practice had a comprehensive induction process for new members of staff.
- The practice demonstrated a strong leadership team with clear roles, responsibilities, lead areas and values.
- The practice worked to achieve a number of additional accreditations, innovations, research and continuous learning.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Review and improve the practice’s uptake of cancer screening programmes.
- Review and improve the number of learning disability health checks provided.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BS BM BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care