• Doctor
  • GP practice

Archived: Priory Road Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Priory Road, Park South, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 2EZ (01793) 688744

Provided and run by:
Priory Road Medical Centre

Important: The provider of this service changed. See new profile

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 18 July 2018

The provider, Priory Road Medical Centre, delivers all regulated activities from its sole location at:

Priory Road Medical Centre

Priory Road

Park South

Swindon

SN3 2EZ

Tel: 01793 688744

Website: www.prioryroadmedicalcentre.org.uk

Priory Road Medical Centre is located in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is one of 25 practices serving the NHS Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area. The practice has occupied its current, purpose-built premises since 2005, and is arranged over two floors. All patient services including nurse treatment and GP consulting rooms are located on the ground floor.

The practice has around 8,600 registered patients from an area surrounding the practice and Swindon town centre. The practice age distribution is broadly in line with the national average, with most patients being of working age or older. Priory Road Medical Centre has started the process of merging with six other NHS GP practices locally, to become the Wyvern Health Partnership. The aim of the merger is to develop services, share best practice and collaborate on health initiatives.

Priory Road Medical Centre is a training and teaching facility for clinical staff, and accommodates three to four, fourth year medical students each on a four-week placement.

The practice has a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract to deliver health care services. PMS contracts are locally-agreed alternatives to the standard General Medical Services contract, and used when services are agreed locally with a practice. They may include additional services beyond the standard contract.

Priory Road Medical Centre provides the following regulated activities:

  • Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
  • Diagnostic and screening procedures
  • Family planning
  • Maternity and midwifery services
  • Surgical procedures

There are three GP partners (one female, two male), and three salaried GPs (one male, two female). The wider clinical team consists of three nurses and one Health Care Assistant (HCA). A clinical pharmacist, employed by the local clinical commissioning group (CCG), is based at the practice one day per week. The practice manager and assistant practice manager are concerned with the day-to-day running of the practice. Three staff members combine their work as phlebotomists with administrative, secretarial and reception duties.

87% of the practice population describes itself as white, and around 13% as having a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. A measure of deprivation in the local area recorded a score of 3, on a scale of 1-10. A higher score indicates a less deprived area. (Note that the circumstances and lifestyles of the people living in an area affect its deprivation score. Not everyone living in a deprived area is deprived and not all deprived people live in deprived areas).

Priory Road Medical Centre is open from 8am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, and is also open one Saturday per month. The practice will take calls during these times (except on Saturday mornings). Routine GP appointments are generally available from 8.30am to 11.30am and 3pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday. The practice provides (pre-booked only) extended hours morning appointments from 7.30 am to 8am on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with a GP and nurse.

The practice has opted out of providing Out-Of-Hours services to its own patients. Outside of normal practice hours, patients can access the NHS 111 service, and an Out-Of-Hours GP is available at Swindon Walk-In Centre. Information about the Out-Of-Hours service was available on the practice website, on the front door, in the patient registration pack, and as an answerphone message.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 18 July 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 14 October 2014 – Good)

The key questions 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 Priory Road Medical Centre on 8 June 2018, as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
  • The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
  • The practice developed a protocol for dealing with male hypogonadism and testosterone replacement, that was consistent with the British Endocrine Society.
  • There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs of different groups of people and to deliver care in a way that met these needs and promoted equality.
  • Priory Road Medical Centre identified patients at risk of developing diabetes who were not on the diabetes register, and implemented changes that could help to prevent the progression of this health condition.
  • Patients were offered a range of services to help them improve and manage their health condition. These included a test to determine how well their lungs were performing, and retinal and blood glucose screening.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • The provider should continue to make efforts to increase the programme coverage of women eligible to be screened for cervical cancer.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice