Matrix Medical Practice

Updated 25 March 2019

• The registered provider is Sydenham House Medical Group which is a primary care at scale organisation that delivers general practice services at seven registered locations in England.
• Matrix Medical Practice is located at 10A Beacon Hill, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7JX. The practice has a general medical services contract with NHS England for delivering primary care services to the local community. The practice website address is .
• As part of our inspection we visited Matrix Medical Practice, 10A Beacon Hill, Chatham, Kent, ME5 7JX, where the provider delivers registered activities.
• Matrix Medical Practice has a registered patient population of approximately 2,600 patients. The practice is located in an area with a lower than average deprivation score.
• There are arrangements with other providers (MedOCC) to deliver services to patients outside of the practice’s working hours.
• The practice staff consists of one GP partner (male), one practice manager, two practice nurses (both female), one healthcare assistant (female) as well as one pharmacy technician, reception and administration staff. The practice also employs locum GPs via an agency when required. Practice staff are also supported by the Sydenham House Medical Group management team.
• Matrix Medical Practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to deliver the following regulated activities: diagnostic and screening procedures; family planning; treatment of disease, disorder or injury; surgical procedures. The practice is in the process of adding the regulated activity of maternity and midwifery services to their registration with CQC.

Updated 25 March 2019

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Matrix Medical Practice on 26 February 2019 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

At this inspection we found:

• There was an effective system for reporting and recording significant events.
• The practice’s systems, processes and practices helped to keep people safe.
• Risks to patients, staff and visitors were assessed, monitored and managed in an effective manner.
• Staff had the information they needed to deliver safe care and treatment to patients.
• The arrangements for managing medicines in the practice helped keep patients safe.
• The practice learned and made improvements when things went wrong.
• Performance for one diabetes related indicator and hypertension related indicator for 2017 / 2018 was significantly below local and national averages. The practice had taken action and unverified data showed that improvements to performance in both these indicators had taken place.
• Published results showed the childhood immunisation uptake rates for the vaccines given were higher than the World Health Organisation target percentage of 95% or above in three out of the four indicators.
• Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to carry out their roles.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
• Results from the national GP patient survey showed that patients’ satisfaction with how they could access care and treatment was higher than local and national averages.
• There were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support good governance and management locally and at provider management team level.
• The practice had a vision to deliver high quality care and promote good outcomes for patients.
• The practice was proactive at involving patients, the public, staff and external partners to support high-quality sustainable services.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Revise computerised records so that staff are alerted to family and other household members of child patients that are on the risk register.
• Continue to implement and monitor activities to improve performance for the one diabetes related indicator and hypertension indicator that were below local and national averages.
• Continue to identify patients who are also carers to help ensure they are offered appropriate support.
• Continue with the process to add the regulated activity of maternity and midwifery services to the practice’s registration with the Care Quality Commission.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.

Updated 25 March 2019

Updated 25 March 2019

Updated 25 March 2019

Updated 25 March 2019

Updated 25 March 2019

Updated 25 March 2019