Gloucester Health Access Centre

Updated 11 September 2023

Gloucester Health Access Centre is located in Gloucester at:

Quayside House

Quay Street

Gloucester

GL1 2TZ

The practice has a branch surgery at:

Matson Lane Surgery

Taylor House

4 Matson Lane

Matson

Gloucestershire

GL4 6DX

We did not visit the branch surgery as part of this inspection.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and family planning. These are delivered from both sites.

The practice offers services from both a main practice and a branch surgery. Patients can access services at either surgery.

The practice is situated within the Gloucestershire Integrated Care System (ICS) and delivers Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) to a patient population of approximately 9,700. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices known as Inner City Primary Care Network.

Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the second lowest decile (2 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 84.2% White, 7.2% Asian, 4.5% Black, 3.9% Mixed, 0.3% Other.

The age distribution of the practice population does not mirror national or local averages. The practice population has a predominately young population with around 10% of the practice population over the age of 60 years.

The practice population speaks 81 different languages or dialects and 32% do not have English as a first language.

There is a team of 11 GPs who provide cover at both practices. The practice has a team of 4 nurses who provide nurse-led clinics for long-term conditions at both the main and the branch locations. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception and administration staff. There is a practice manager who provides managerial oversight and 2 assistant practice managers who are based at the main location and branch location.

Gloucester Health Access Centre is open between 8 am to 8 pm Monday to Friday for registered patients. The branch site at Matson Lane has varying hours Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including those bookable on the day, telephone consultations and advance routine appointments.

Urgent care access is provided locally by this provider at Gloucester Health Access Centre 8am to 8pm Monday to Sunday. Out of hours services are provided by the NHS 111.

Updated 11 September 2023

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Gloucester Health Access Centre on 26 July 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - good

Effective - good

Caring - good

Responsive - good

Well-led - good

During the inspection process, the practice highlighted efforts they are making to improve outcomes for their population. The effect of these efforts is not (yet) reflected in verified outcomes data. As such, the ratings for this inspection have not been impacted. However, we continue to monitor the data and where we see potential changes, we will follow these up with the practice.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Gloucester Health Access Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities. This is the first inspection for this location.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• A short site visit.

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:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Staff felt well supported by the management team.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Implement and audit processes to ensure all staff have immunisations in line with national guidance.
• Embed newly implemented processes to support safe care and treatment, for example antimicrobial optimisation and medicines monitoring.
• Take steps to improve cervical screening uptake.
• Take steps to improve access and ensure more patient feel involved in their care.
• Implement the plan to introduce a patient participation group (PPG)

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 Health Care