23 November 2023
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We carried out a targeted announced assessment of Hastings Medical Centre in relation to the responsive key question. This assessment was carried out on 21 November 2023 without a site visit. Overall, the practice is rated as Good. We rated the key question of responsive as Good.
Safe - Good
Effective – Good
Caring - Good
Responsive – Good
Well-led – Good
The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Hastings Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk
Why we carried out this inspection
This was a targeted assessment of the key question of responsive to understand how practices are working to try and meet the 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 colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. 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. These assessments of the responsive key question include looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement.
How we carried out the inspection
This inspection was carried remotely.
This included:
- Conducting an interview with the provider and staff interviews using video conferencing.
- Requesting evidence from the provider.
- Reviewing patient feedback from a range of sources.
- Seeking data we hold about the service.
- Seeking information/feedback from relevant stakeholders.
Our findings
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We found that:
- Patients were satisfied with the access to appointments offered by the practice. This was reflected in the National GP survey and other analysis by the Friends and Family Test (FFT).
- The practice were actively seeking ways in re-establishing its Patient Participation (PPG) following the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The practice understood the needs of its local population.
- The practice dealt with complaints in a timely manner and learned from them.
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
- Continue to seek ways at establishing a patient participation group.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA
Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services