Albany House Surgery

Updated 11 January 2019

Albany House Surgery is located to the north of Worcester city centre. The practice was established 50 years ago and has been at its current location for over 20 years. The practice is located in a listed building. As a result, there are severe restrictions on changes that can be made to the exterior and interior of the building. At the time of our inspection, the practice had 6975 patients registered. The practice population is the sixth least deprived. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest. The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England.

The practice has four GP partners (two male and two female) and two salaried GP’s. The practice has a part time pharmacist, two practice nurses and a healthcare assistant. The clinical team are supported by a practice manager, a head receptionist and a team of administrative and reception staff.

The practice treats patients of all ages and provides a range of medical services including family planning, NHS health checks, baby clinics, minor surgery and nursing services. It is also a training practice and regularly hosts trainee GP’s.

A chaperone service is available for patients who request the service. This is advertised throughout the practice.

Parking is available on-site however there are a limited number of car parking spaces as the parking area is surrounded by trees that have a tree preservation order and therefore cannot be removed.

The practice does not provide out of hours services to their own patients. When the practice is closed patients are directed to contact Care UK via NHS 111.

The practice website can be viewed at: www.albanyhousesurgeryworcester.co.uk  

Updated 11 January 2019

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating 09/07/15 – Good)

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 Albany House Surgery on 29 November 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for recording, reporting and learning from significant events. The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practices antibiotic and hypnotic prescribing were higher than local and national averages, however the practice was routinely reviewing the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided to ensure that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• There were clear responsibilities, roles and systems of accountability to support effective governance.
• Results from the national GP patient survey revealed a high level of patient satisfaction about the care given at the practice. For example, 98% of patients stated that during their last GP appointment they were involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment and 99% stated that during their last GP appointment they had confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to.
• Staff involved treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• The practice responded to complaints in a timely and open manner.
• The leadership, governance and culture were used to drive and improve the delivery of its service. All staff were involved in the development of the practice and were proud of their achievements.
• The results from the national GP patient survey evidenced high satisfaction rates for patients in relation to kindness, respect and compassion. On the day of inspection, patients told us that the practice was patient-centred and family orientated. All of the 40 patient comment cards were overwhelmingly positive about the quality of care patients received.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Continue to monitor and review the uptake for cervical screening.
• Continue to review and monitor prescribing in line with Quality Outcome Framework and best practice guidelines.
• Continue to keep the exception reporting rates under review to ensure that patients are receiving the most appropriate treatment.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice

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

Updated 11 January 2019

Updated 11 January 2019

Updated 11 January 2019

Updated 11 January 2019

Updated 11 January 2019

Updated 11 January 2019