Kingsteignton Medical Practice is a GP practice providing NHS primary care services for approximately 10,663 patients. The practice is in the town of Kingsteignton in Devon. The practice has a total of nine GPs who are supported by a nursing team and an administrative team. Opening hours are between 8am to 6pm Monday Friday. The practice provides extended opening hours on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays with pre bookable appointments from 7.00 am. Outside normal surgery hours the emergency cover is provided by a Out of Hours service.
Kingsteignton Medical Practice has one location at The Surgery, Whiteway Road, Kingsteignton, Devon TQ12 3HN. We carried out our announced inspection on Wednesday 9 July 2014 of the practice .
Before the inspection, we asked other organisations to share what they knew about this practice. We looked at information from NHS England, South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Torbay Healthwatch and the local Health and Scrutiny Board. We talked with 14 patients on the day of our inspection and they were all satisfied with the standard of care, service and treatment they received at the practice. A further 26 patients gave written feedback in comment cards and by email. Patient comment cards were very positive with a recurring themes of safe, effective and responsive care. Staff were said to be kind and caring.
Older patients told us the practice was caring, responsive and attentive to their needs.
Patients with long term conditions highlighted the many clinics held at the practice. Patients talked about feeling involved in their care and treatment and were able to make choices about their care and had been given suitable advice.
Mothers and babies and young patients were pleased with the care and treatment their families received. Parents told us their care and that of their children was thorough at the practice.
Patients of working age population or those recently retired felt recent changes to the appointments system meant it was easier to see a GP when it suited them.
Patients in vulnerable circumstances who may have had poor access to primary care were closely monitored by the practice team. Initiatives such as the partnership with a local patient support group provided patients with additional support when needed. This included assistance with transport, befriending and help with shopping or collecting medicines. Patients experiencing mental health problems told us they felt listened to and supported when they most needed help. Carers of relatives with dementia type illness told us the day to day challenges of this role were recognised and the team at the practice were proactive in offering them support.
Based on patient experiences at Kingsteignton Medical Practice, we concluded the practice was well led, with clear leadership and governance structures in operation. Patients told us they felt the practice was safe, caring and responsive. The practice was effective in the way it provided care to patients. Information we saw and comments we received demonstrated good working relations with other health professionals, organisations and local authorities. Supporting data and documentation we reviewed about the practice demonstrated the practice performed very well when compared with all other practices within the CCG area.
There were two areas for improvement, these relate to risk assessment of administrative staff who may be involved in chaperone duties and access to Mental Capacity Act (2005) training and the content of the adult safeguarding policy.