Cirencester Health Group

Updated 18 July 2022

The Avenue Surgery is the registered location for Cirencester Health Group and is located in Cirencester at:

1 The Avenue

Cirencester

Gloucestershire

GL7 1EH

The practice has a branch surgery at:

St Peter’s Road Surgery

1 St Peter’s Road

Cirencester

Gloucestershire

GL1 1RF

We did not visit the branch surgery at this inspection.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the regulated activities: diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. These are delivered from both sites with the exception of surgical procedures which is only provided from St Peter’s Road.

The practice offers services from both a main practice and a branch surgery. Patients can access services at either site. The practice is situated within the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 13,100. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices and is a member of the South Cotswold Primary Care Network (PCN) with four other GP practices in the area.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the ninth highest decile (nine 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 97.1% White, 1.3% Asian and 1.6% Other. The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages. There is a team of 11 GPs who provide cover at both practices. The practice has a team of nine nurses and health care assistants who provide nurse led clinic’s for long-term condition of use of both the main and the branch locations. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of reception/administration staff. There are two practice managers one of who is based at the main location and one at the branch site to provide 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 a choice of either the main GP location or the branch surgery.

Extended access is provided locally by Gloucestershire Out of Hours Service via the NHS 111, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are provided by Gloucestershire Out of Hours Service.

Updated 18 July 2022

We carried out an announced follow-up inspection at Cirencester Health Group on 26 May 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Well-led - Good

Following our previous inspection in October 2021, the practice was rated Good overall and for all key questions except safe which was rated Requires Improvement.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Cirencester Health Group on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection.

This inspection was a follow-up inspection to follow up on:

• The breach identified at the last inspection in October 2021.
  • Ensure care and treatment is provided in a safe way for patients. For example, ensure systems for monitoring patients are consistently followed prior to the prescribing of medicines and review the process for completing medicine reviews. Monitor and address the risks to patients who displayed indications of atrial fibrillation.

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 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

We found that:

• Issues identified at the last inspection had been addressed.
• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centered care.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulation the practice should:

• Continue to action plans to address the remaining backlog in patient summarising.
• The practice should continue to encourage patient uptake in cervical screening.

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