- GP practice
Quarry Bank Medical Centre
Report from 7 May 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
We carried out an announced assessment of one quality statement, equity of access, under the key question Responsive at Quarry Bank Medical Centre on the 20 March 2024. Overall, the practice is rated as good and the key question ‘Is the service Responsive’ continues to be rated as providing a good service. We carried out the assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet people’s demands for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers. We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know staff are carrying this out whilst the demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. However, in this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. The assessment of the quality statement equity of access includes looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement. At this assessment we found: People could access services when they need to, without physical or digital barriers, including out of normal hours and in an emergency. Physical premises and equipment were accessible. People were given support to overcome barriers to ensure equal access. The leaders understood the challenges to patient access, and this was demonstrated in their action plan. They responded flexibly to meet people’s needs, such as the ways in which people could access care and treatment, as well as the types of appointments being made available.
People's experience of this service
The 2023 National GP Patient Survey showed that while people’s satisfaction with appointment times had dropped to 54% in comparison to 78% in 2021. We also found people’s satisfaction with getting through on the telephone was below the expected target. The provider’s own in-house survey showed that people’s satisfaction with getting through to a GP had dropped from January to February 2024. However, the provider had an action plan in place that had shown some improvements. They were also now able to monitor how quickly calls were responded to, waiting times, and calling people back. We recognise the pressure that practices are currently working under, and the efforts staff are making to maintain levels of access for their patients. At the same time, our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. Although we saw the practice was attempting to improve access, this was not yet reflected in the GP patient survey data or other sources of patient feedback.