• Doctor
  • GP practice

Nuffield Road Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Nuffield Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB4 1GL (01223) 423424

Provided and run by:
Nuffield Road Medical Centre

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 28 October 2021

Nuffield Road Medical Centre is located in Cambridge at:

Nuffield Road

Cambridge

CB4 1GL

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

The practice is situated within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group.

and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 14300. This is part of a contract held with NHS England. The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the sixth decile (6 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 85% White, 9% Asian, 2% Black, 3% Mixed, and 1% Other.

There is a team of 4 GP partners (1 male, 3 female), 6 salaried GPs (1 male and 5 female). The practice has a team of two practice nurses, four health care assistants and three care practitioners. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. The practice manager provides managerial oversight.

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered an appointment. The practice opens between the hours of 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday. When the practice is closed the out of hours services are provided by NHS111.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 28 October 2021

We carried out an announced inspection at Nuffield Road Medical Centre on 30 September 2021. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Set out the ratings for each key question

Safe - Good

Effective – Requires Improvement

Caring – Good (rating carried forward from previous inspection)

Responsive – Good (rating carried forward from previous inspection)

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection on 7 August 2019 the practice was rated Requires Improvement overall and for the key questions of safe, effective and well led. The practice had achieved a rating of good for providing caring and responsive services.

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

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a focused inspection of the Safe, Effective and Well-led key questions to follow up on any breaches of regulations and areas the practice should improve that were identified at the previous inspection.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

  • Conducting clinical staff interviews using video conferencing
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
  • 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 have rated this practice as Good overall and good for all population groups with the exception of Working age people (including those recently retired and students) and Families, children and young people which we rated as requires improvement.

We found that:

  • The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included enhanced infection control procedures.
  • Governance arrangements had been strengthened to ensure risks to patients were considered, managed and mitigated appropriately.
  • Recruitment systems had been strengthened to ensure all staff had undergone the appropriate checks before employment.
  • Staff appraisals and supervision protocols had been improved to ensure all staff had the opportunity to discuss their development.
  • Effective procedures for the management of medicines had been strengthened to ensure antibiotic medicines were prescribed appropriately.
  • The security of prescription stationery had been implemented to ensure there were effective processes in place.
  • Quality indicators and regular audits were completed to improve patient outcomes.
  • Risk management processes were in place and we found some assessments of risks had been completed. These included fire safety, health and safety, and infection control. This ensured that risks had been considered to ensure the safety of staff and patients and to mitigate any future risks.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

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

  • Continue to encourage patients to attend childhood immunisations and cervical screening appointments.
  • Continue to review outstanding risk assessment actions and implement the appropriate actions.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care