• Doctor
  • GP practice

Ridge Green Medical Practice

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Ridge Green Medical Centre, Ramleaze Drive, Shaw, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 5PX (01793) 874894

Provided and run by:
Ridge Green Medical Practice

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Background to this inspection

Updated 13 December 2018

The provider, Ridge Green Medical Practice, delivers regulated activities from its main and branch sites. The branch site at Freshbrook was not visited as part of this inspection.

The addresses for the main and branch sites are:

Ridge Green Medical Centre

Ramleaze Drive,

Shaw

Swindon

SN5 5PX

Tel: 01793 874894

The Freshbrook Surgery

Freshbrook Village Centre

Freshbrook

Swindon

SN5 8LY

Tel: 01793 870494

Website (for main and branch sites): www.ridgegreen.org.uk

Ridge Green Medical Practice is based in Swindon, Wiltshire, and is one of 24 practices serving the NHS Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area. A staffed reception area is located on the ground floor, along with rooms for GP consulting, counselling and nurse treatment.

The practice has around 10,881 registered patients from an area surrounding the practice and Swindon town centre. The practice age distribution is broadly in line with the national average, with most patients being of working age or older.

The practice has a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract to deliver health care services. PMS contracts are locally-agreed alternatives to the standard General Medical Services contract, and used when services are agreed locally with a practice. They may include additional services beyond the standard contract.

Ridge Green Medical Practice provides the following regulated activities:

  • Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
  • Diagnostic and screening procedures
  • Maternity and midwifery services

There are two GP partners (both male) and seven locum GPs (five of whom have been working at the practice on a long-term basis). The wider clinical team consists of two nurse practitioners, two practice nurses, one treatment room nurse and one phlebotomist. The practice manager (who is also a partner) is concerned with the day-to-day running of the practice. The practice team includes reception, administrative and secretarial staff.

90% of the practice population describes itself as white, and around 10% as having a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. A measure of deprivation in the local area recorded a score of 9, on a scale of 1-10. A higher score indicates a less deprived area. (Note that the circumstances and lifestyles of the people living in an area affect its deprivation score. Not everyone living in a deprived area is deprived and not all deprived people live in deprived areas).

Ridge Green Medical Practice is open from 8.30am to 12.30pm, and 2pm to 6pm, Monday to Friday, and the practice will take calls during these times. Routine and urgent GP appointments are also available during these times. A telephone triage service is available from 8am-8.30am; and a duty doctor between 12.30pm and 2pm. This information is available as an answer machine message.

The practice has opted out of providing Out-Of-Hours services to its own patients. Outside of normal practice hours, patients can access the NHS 111 service, and an Out-Of-Hours GP is available at Swindon Walk-In Centre. Information about the Out-Of-Hours service was available on the practice website, in the patient registration pack, and as an answerphone message.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 13 December 2018

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Ridge Green Medical Practice on 25 October 2018 as part of our inspection programme. Our inspection team was led by a CQC inspector and included specialist advisors in General Practice and practice management.

Our judgement of the quality of care at this service is based 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.

This means that:

  • Patients had good outcomes because they received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Patients were supported, treated with dignity and respect and were involved as partners in their care.
  • People’s needs were met by the way in which services were organised and delivered.
  • The leadership, governance and culture of the practice promoted the delivery of high quality person-centred care.

We found areas where the provider should make improvements. The provider should:

  • Continue to identify carers to enable this group of patients to access the care and support they require.
  • Continue to engage patients with asthma and diabetes, so that there is lower exception reporting and healthier outcomes for these health indicators
  • Ensure documentary evidence of staff vaccinations.
  • Continue to engage with staff through staff surveys and other means, to bring greater clarity to working arrangements and remove any inconsistencies.
  • Ensure fire tests are undertaken on a regular and consistent basis.

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

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice