The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Merepark Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Alsager Health Centre, 12 Sandbach Road South, Alsager, Stoke On Trent, Staffordshire, ST7 2LU (01270) 275600

Provided and run by:
Merepark Medical Centre

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Date of Assessment: 11 June 2026. Merepark Medical Centre is a GP practice that delivers services to approximately 7492 people under a contract held with NHS England. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 97% White, 1.1% Asian, 1.2% Mixed, 0.3% Black and 0.4% Other. Information published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows deprivation within the service population group is in the 9th decile (9 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the service population is relative to others.
This was a focused assessment. We undertook this assessment due to the length of time since our last assessment. We assessed 10 quality statements from across all 5 key questions. This assessment considered the demographics of the people using the service, the context the service was working within and how this impacted service delivery. Where relevant, further commentary is provided in the quality statements section of this report.
Staff kept facilities clean and maintained equipment appropriately to ensure people were kept safe. They assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience.
The service supported people to live healthier lives, monitoring their care and treatment to ensure they received positive and consistent outcomes. Staff treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion, and respected their privacy and dignity. People could access care, treatment and support when they needed it. Leaders and staff were alert to discrimination and inequality that could disadvantage groups of people who used the service and sought ways to address any barriers.
The service had a clear vision and strategy, which considered the needs of the people who used their service and the wider community. Staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. Leaders accounted for the actions, behaviours and performance of staff through clear and effective governance processes.
 

8 November 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Merepark Medical Centre on 8 November 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
  • Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.

  • Infection control procedures were in place.

  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.

  • Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies and emergency medicines and equipment were available.

  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • There was a clear approach to working with others to improve care outcomes with a clear strategy and objectives including engaging with other key partners in providing health services.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff were well supported by the GP partners.

  • Staff were supervised, felt involved and worked as a team.

  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had conducted repeated patient surveys facilitated by the patient participation group (PPG) to continually review the service it provided. This had resulted in the establishment of “open” surgeries carried out daily between 9am and 12pm, the re-introduction of cryotherapy clinics and the extension of appointment times from 10 to 12 minutes.

There were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements, these were:

  • Review the management of equipment checks to make it clear that all clinical and electrical equipment is appropriately marked and recorded.

  • Review how the results of investigations conducted following safety alerts are recorded.

  • Ensure practice polices are reviewed in a timely manner and review the need for a lone worker policy.

  • Review the location of the emergency drugs cupboard and the procedure for checking medicines and equipment contained within it.

  • Review the recruitment policy/procedure to ensure medical fitness declarations are included when recruiting new staff.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice