The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Archived: London Road Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

172 London Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 3PA (0118) 926 4992

Provided and run by:
London Road Surgery

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

All Inspections

We have not revisited London Road Surgery as part of this review because they were able to demonstrate that they were meeting the standards without the need for a visit.

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

During a comprehensive inspection of London Road Surgery in November 2015 we found concerns related to the knowledge of staff in relation to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and incomplete records of staff training. Because of these concerns, we found the practice in breach of regulations relating to effective delivery of services.

We also raised a concern with the practice over their lack of an effective review of emergency equipment. They did not have a defibrillator on the premises or access to one quickly in an emergency.

Following the inspection, the practice sent us an action plan detailing how they would improve the training for staff in MCA, update their staff training records and proposed the purchase of a defibrillator.

We carried out a desktop review of London Surgery on 14 July 2016 to ensure these changes had been implemented and that the service was meeting regulations. The ratings for the practice have been updated to reflect our findings. We found the practice had made improvements in effective provision of services since our last inspection on 17 November 2015 and they were meeting the requirements of the regulation in breach.

Specifically the practice had;

  • Offered appropriate training to all staff in regard to the MCA.

  • Updated their training log for all staff training records.

  • Purchased a defibrillator for use in an emergency.

We have updated the ratings for this practice to reflect these changes. The practice is now rated good for the provision of effective services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

17 November 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at London Road Surgery, Reading on 17 November 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed and recruitment checks were completed.
  • Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance.
  • There were gaps within staff training and development, including elements of mandatory training and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand.
  • Information about services was available but not everybody would be able to understand or access it as only a few posters and leaflets were in another language (the practice recognised that they had a high number of their practice population whose first language was not English).
  • Urgent appointments were usually available on the day they were requested, although patient feedback suggested this was not always the case.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
  • The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

The practice had been recognised by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for their work on improving sexually transmitted disease screening targets. The 2013/14 figures indicated that the surgery was performing poorly for the locality, being forth from the bottom in a performance table of 54 practices. The figures for October 2015 showed improvement, with the practice being third from the top and increasing their screening percentage from 0.6% to 4.3%. Only two other practices had achieved the CCG target of more than 5% of the eligible population group being screened.

The areas where the provider must make improvements are:

  • To provide the appropriate training and updates in essential skills such as basic life support and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to all staff at the required level. In addition, the practice must complete the induction programme for newly appointed staff and ensure an ongoing timetable of training requirements for all staff is implemented.

  • The practice must implement a protocol in line with their risk assessment relating to medical emergency response times and consider their preparedness for a cardiac emergency with the provision of an automated external defibrillator as recommended by the UK Resuscitation Council.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Provide practice information, including the complaints procedure, in appropriate languages and formats.
  • Ensure services are accessible to those with hearing or speech difficulties. For example, by installing a hearing loop and offering British sign language as part of their translation services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice