The Law Medical Group 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

We carried out an announced assessment of one quality statement, equity of access, on 8 March 2024. We found that the practice had taken steps to improve access, particularly regarding access to the practice via telephone. The practice used patient feedback to drive improvement and continued to monitor systems and processes to ensure patients could access care in their preferred way.

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.

Improvements were seen in the national GP patient survey for 2023, compared to the previous year. Access to the practice via telephone remained a concern for some patients. One comment was received directly by CQC, referring to difficulty accessing face to face appointments. Comments on the NHS reviews website were positive about the service and referred to a relaxing environment and friendly, professional staff.

Appointments could be made in person, via telephone or online. The practice was open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Thursday and 8am to 5.30pm on Friday. Outside of these times, patients were advised to contact NHS 111 for out of hours appointments. We reviewed the practice’s appointment system and found the next available urgent appointments were available on 8 March 2024 (the same day as our assessment). The next available routine appointments were available on 11 March 2024 (the next working day), and included online, telephone and face-to-face appointments. All appointment requests were triaged by trained call handlers and assigned to clinical staff or signposted elsewhere, for example to a pharmacy. Interpreters were available for patients who did not speak English as a first language. The practice’s website could be translated into different languages.

The practice was aware of the issues around telephone access and had updated the practice’s telephone system in response to this. This system generated data, such as peak times for calls, so that staff could be allocated appropriately. The system had a call back feature, meaning patients did not need to wait in a queue, and there was a dedicated call centre for staff who focused solely on answering the telephone. The provider shared unverified data on the practice’s telephone system with us. This showed an increase in the number of calls answered and a decrease in the number of calls missed in February 2024 compared with December 2022. This data also showed the number of staff answering calls was aligned with demand, with more staff answering calls during busy periods in the February 2024 data. Staff told us the appointment system was reviewed regularly. Online consultations were popular with patients, based on feedback from the practice’s patient participation group (PPG), the practice had extended the hours for online consultations from 8.30am to 6.30pm to 7am to 7pm. The practice had also introduced a self-booking system for certain types of appointments, for example cervical screening appointments. We were told the practice was flexible in their approach to support patients. For example, patients with sensory needs could request to attend the practice during quieter periods, and patients with learning disabilities were able to see a clinician with whom they felt most comfortable. Staff told us there were processes in place to ensure positive feedback about the practice was shared with the team. Negative feedback was shared with individuals involved and used to improve the service.

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.