The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Pear Tree Surgery

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

28 Meadow Close, Kingsbury, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B78 2NR (01827) 872755

Provided and run by:
Pear Tree Surgery

All Inspections

27 November 2023

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced assessment of Pear Tree Surgery on 27 November 2023.

This was a targeted review of responsive services. The practice was previously inspected in March 2019 and had previously been rated good overall and good in safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Any previous ratings for the overall rating, safe, effective, caring, and well-led will be unchanged following this assessment.

Rating at this assessment:

Responsive – Requires improvement.

Why we carried out this review

We carried out this assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet demand for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers.

We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know colleagues are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. These assessments of the responsive key question include looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement.

How we carried out the assessment

This assessment was carried out virtually, through an online meeting and review of documents. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

  • Requesting evidence from the provider.
  • A virtual meeting with the provider.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

  • what we found when we carried out the assessment
  • 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 requires improvement for responsive services.

We found that:

  • During the assessment process, the provider highlighted the efforts they were making to improve the responsiveness of the service for their patient population. These included a triage appointments system to meet increased demand for on the day care and treatment. The effect of these efforts had not yet been evaluated, therefore not yet reflected in patient feedback.
  • Data from the national survey showed the practice performed below local and national average for all indicators related to access since the last inspection, and on a downward trend.
  • The practice actively engaged with patients through their patient participation group and feedback was collected regularly from patients seen.
  • Whilst telephone data was monitored, it had limitations which prevented analysis of call waiting times.
  • Patients could access services online through the practice website and the NHS App.
  • Complaints received were reviewed effectively and learning from complaints was shared and implemented by the whole practice team.

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

  • Continue to review and evaluate measures put in place to improve access to appointments and demonstrate how they are responding to feedback from patients on access.

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

12/03/2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Pear Tree Surgery on 12 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme. The practice had previously been inspected by CQC on 24 May 2016 and rated as good.

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.

We found that:

  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
  • Urgent same day patient appointments were available when needed. All patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards before our inspection said they were always able to obtain same day appointments and access care when needed.
  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care delivered in line with current guidelines. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Results from the national GP patient survey revealed a high level of patient satisfaction about the care given at the practice which was either in-line with or above local and national averages. For example, 94.1% of patients who responded said that the last time they had a general practice appointment, the healthcare professional was good or very good at treating them with care and concern and 99.3% had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to.
  • Patients said GPs gave them enough time and treated them with dignity and respect.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • The practice should continue to closely monitor areas of the national GP patient survey that were below the local and national averages for patient access.

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

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

24 May 2016

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Pear Tree Surgery on 24 May 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

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

  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care delivered in line with current guidelines. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
  • Patients told us they said they were treated with dignity, respect and compassion. Patients were involved decisions about their care and treatment.
  • Urgent same day patient appointments were available when needed. All patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards before our inspection said they were always able to obtain same day appointments.
  • Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand. The practice received very few complaints from patients and reviewed complaints to ensure lessons learned were not repeated.
  • Patients said GPs gave them enough time.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
  • There were clearly defined processes and procedures to ensure patients were safe and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events. They were fully reviewed at every staff meeting.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

16 January 2014

During a routine inspection

We visited the practice to establish that the needs of patients were being met. Pear Tree Surgery had a branch surgery where their patients had access to clinical services, should this surgery be more convenient. On the day of the inspection we spoke with 11 patients who had accessed both surgeries, seven staff members, two doctors and the practice manager.

The patients we spoke with were generally complimentary of the service provided at the practice. Most patients gave examples of reception staff who had been polite and helpful. They told us that the doctors and nurses took time to listen to them and explain their treatment options.

We looked at the systems in place to ensure staff knew their responsibilities in relation to protecting vulnerable adults and children from abuse. The staff we spoke with had all received training in this area.

Pear Tree Surgery was a dispensing practice. We saw that systems were in place for the safe management of medication. The staff we spoke with had received training in dispensing medication.

In order to monitor the quality of the service it provided the practice had a Patient Participation Group (PPG). PPGs are an effective way for patients and GP surgeries to work together to improve the service and to promote and improve the quality of the care