Hobs Moat Medical Centre

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, under the key question Responsive and found: The leaders used people’s feedback and other evidence to improve access for people. Services were designed to make them accessible and timely for people who were most likely to have difficulty accessing care. The provider prioritised, allocated resources and opportunities as needed to tackle inequalities and achieve equity of access.

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.

The 2023 GP patient survey showed that while patient satisfaction with telephone and appointment access had improved from the previous year (2022), patient satisfaction with how easy people found it to access the practice by telephone remained poor and there was a significant negative variation when compared with other GP practices. Patient satisfaction with their overall experience of making an appointment and their satisfaction with the GP practice’s appointment times also remained poor, despite improvements from the previous year (2022). Feedback from 16 people to CQC was negative about accessing the practice by telephone or in making an appointment. The practice had received 22 comments on the NHS website between March 2023 and April 2024, of these, 5 people had left negative comments on the website about difficulties in telephone and/or appointment access. From meeting minutes we saw that the Patient Participation Group (PPG) had opportunities to share their feedback about access and the practice team had responded to patient feedback by sharing their plans for improving access. In March and April 2024, the practice had received 163 comments from patients completing the Friends and Family survey. Of those people that responded to the survey, 84% commented that the service was very good or good. Comments included that people were seen on time and they were able to get an appointment on the day. When people commented negatively about the service, the practice used this information to make changes for example, to the types of appointments offered. The practice collected feedback from patients following their consultation with a GP. In March and April 2024, 39 people completed the survey. Of those completing the survey, 31 people commented positively that they had been reviewed by their usual GP, however, 4 people commented negatively about difficulties in either being able to make an appointment or making an appointment with their preferred GP.

The practice understood the needs of its local population and had developed services in response to those needs. Patients could make appointments by telephone and by visiting the practice. The practice offered on the day and pre-bookable appointments and offered the choice of face to face or telephone appointments. The practice worked with local practices within their primary care network (PCN) to provide evening and weekend appointments. Patients had access to interpretation services. The practice was accessible to patients with mobility needs. Feedback from staff demonstrated people in vulnerable circumstances were able to register with the practice, including those with no fixed abode. Leaders demonstrated they were aware of the challenges to patient access and had acted to improve patient access. The practice had made improvements to the telephone system and further improvements were planned to offer people a call back facility. To improve access to the practice’s telephone lines, staff communicated with patients, shared results and links to information using text message. The practice had increased the number of receptionists available to answer the phone. The practice were recruiting for an additional salaried GP to increase the number of available appointments. Each day there was a duty (on-call) GP that supported in triaging patients and was able to offer urgent appointments if all available appointments had been taken. The practice sent people links using text message so they could book their own appointment at a time that suited them for example for a blood test. Further improvements were planned, including, the introduction of a system where patients could electronically request appointments as well as make administrative requests. The practice was also planning care navigation training for all receptionists. This would further support staff in signposting patients and ensure that patients received an appointment with the most appropriate clinician.

The practice had systems in place to monitor telephone access. Staff told us since the introduction of a live dashboard, waiting times and the number of abandoned calls had fallen. The practice undertook ongoing audits to determine demand and capacity regarding their appointment system and continued to monitor the availability of appointments and staff regularly. The practice also undertook audits to determine if patients received an appointment with their preferred clinician. Staff discussed information relating to access and patient satisfaction in practice and partner meetings. Patients could book routine appointments up to 4 weeks in advance and same-day appointments were available. The practice is open from 8.30am to 6.30pm, with appointments available from 8.30am to 5.30pm during weekdays. There is Extended Access during the evenings and weekend, as part of the Primary Care Network. The practice offered appointments from a variety of clinical staff for example the GP’s, nurses, health care assistant, phlebotomist, pharmacist and social prescriber. The practice had arrangements in place for prioritising patients. Staff were trained to book appointments with members of the practice clinical team or signpost patients to other appropriate services and were supported to do this by documented protocols and access to a duty doctor. The practice told us they obtained feedback from a range of sources, including the GP patient survey, friends and family survey, PPG and complaints. This helped them identify further improvements, which were added to the practice’s action plan. The action plan was monitored and updated by the practice management team.

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.