- GP practice
Ainsdale Medical Centre
Assessment report published 19 May 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 22 April 2026. Ainsdale Medical Centre is a GP practice and delivers services to approximately 11,500 people under a contract held with NHS England. The service is located at 66 Station Road, Ainsdale, Southport, Merseyside. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the service area is approximately 96% White, 1.6% Asian, 1.5% Mixed, 0.2% 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.
The premises and facilities were clean and well maintained. The provider assessed and managed the risk of infection well and took steps to control the risk of it spreading. There was a good level of staffing with the right skills, qualifications and experience. Staff 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. The system for booking appointments was responsive to people’s needs and patient satisfaction with being able to readily access the service was very good. Leaders were visible, knowledgeable and supportive, helping staff develop in their roles and staff understood their individual roles and responsibilities. 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. Leaders and staff had a shared vision and culture based on listening, learning and continuous improvement. Clear and effective processes were in place to govern the service and ensure high quality standards were met.
People's experience of this service
The provider encouraged and used feedback from people who used the service to make improvements. As part of our assessment, we reviewed feedback from people who used the service to understand their views and experience of the service.
Feedback from a range of sources showed that patient experience of the service was very positive. The results of the National GP Patient Survey showed the practice received similar to, or higher than local and national average scores for patient satisfaction. The results showed that patients felt positive about their overall experience of the service; patients felt listened to, treated with care and concern, involved in decisions about their care and treatment, and had confidence and trust in the healthcare professionals. Patients also felt they could access the service easily. Recent results from the NHS Friends and Family Test showed that people were highly positive about their experience of the service with very complimentary feedback about staff in all roles. People who used the service were invited to provide feedback directly to CQC. Responses we received were positive overall. There was an active patient participation group (PPG) who represented the views of people using the service. Representatives from the PPG described how leaders made positive changes as a result of their feedback.