Ritchie Street Group Practice

Updated 13 June 2019

Ritchie Street Group Practice is one of three hub locations for the extended hours GP service run by Islington GP Federation. Islington GP Federation is made up exclusively of Islington GP practice partners, this ensures that the needs of the local population are understood and provides expertise into local care pathways and services. Ritchie Street Group Practice hub is a purpose-built health centre located at 34 Ritchie Street, Islington, N1 0DG.

The extended hours service runs when NHS GP services are closed within the borough and is designed to provide a continuous GP service for residents of Islington. The service provides pre-bookable GP and nursing appointments for the treatment of adults and children. Islington GP Federation have data sharing agreements with all GP practices in Islington which adhere to the general data protection regulations. This means that clinicians running the service have access to patients’ full medical history during consultations, it also allows the patients home GP practice to see diagnosis and or treatment provided by the extended hours service. The provider is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The hub service based at Ritchie Street Group Practice is open from 6:30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday and from 10am to 4pm on Saturday. Patients can call between 8am and 8pm and directly book an appointment or call their own GP practice to book a hub appointment.

The clinical team for the extended hours service is made up of one medical director, one clinical lead, one clinical lead trainee, 34 GPs, five nurses and one healthcare assistant. The non-clinical team is made up of seven reception managers, 20 receptionists and call handlers, one service manager, one operations manager and three operations officers.

The board for Islington GP Federation is made up of four GPs, one practice nurse, one practice manager, two executive directors and two non-director lay members. The leadership team for the service is made up of one chief executive officer, one director of operations and four GPs.

Updated 13 June 2019

This service is rated as Good overall.

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 the Extended Hours GP Service based at Ritchie Street Group Practice on 23 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme. The inspection was completed on 3 April 2019 when we visited the headquarters for Islington GP Federation.

At this inspection we found:

• The service had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the service learned from them and improved their processes.
• The service routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported they were able to access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care