Sancta Maria Medical Centre

Updated 29 August 2018

Sancta Maria Medical Centre took over from the previous provider in June 2017, the purpose built medical centre is located in South Ockendon in Thurrock, Essex. The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with the NHS.

• There are approximately 2552 patients registered at the practice.
• The practice provides services from Daiglen Drive, South Ockendon, Essex.
• The practice is registered to provide the following regulated activities: treatment of disease, disorder or injury; diagnostic and screening procedures and Maternity and midwifery services.
• The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a sole provider, the main female GP is supported by one long term male locum and occasionally another female locum GP. A long-term locum nurse carries out clinics on Tuesdays. The clinical team are supported by a practice manager and a team of receptionists.
• The practice is open from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8am and 6.30pm and on Wednesdays the practice has extended hours until 8pm.
• The practice has opted out of providing GP out of hour’s services. Unscheduled out-of-hours care is provided by IC24 and patients who contact the surgery outside of opening hours are provided with information on how to contact the service.
• Weekend appointments are available via ‘Thurrock Health Hubs’ a service set up by Thurrock Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
• The practice provides services to a higher number of patients aged between 15 to 44 years.
• National data indicates that people living in the area are fourth most deprived decile of the deprivation scoring in comparison to England.
• The practice has a comprehensive website providing a wealth of information for patients to understand and access services, including useful links to specialist support services.

Updated 29 August 2018

This practice 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 Sancta Maria Medical Centre on 10 July 2018 as part of our inspection programme. We carried out a comprehensive inspection of this service under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

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.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• The practice had clear governance arrangements and staff understood their roles and responsibilities. We found some areas of governance were ineffective. For example, reviewing and updating practice policies.
• National data showed that the practice was performing in line with national averages for most indicators. Where the practice had performed below national average they had acknowledged it and worked on improving the outcomes.
• The practice involved patients in regular reviews of their medicines.
• There was a system for receiving and actioning safety alerts.
• Environmental risk assessments had been completed and were effective at monitoring risk.
• The practice had identified 1.4% of its practice list as carers by highlighting them during registration and clinical consultations.
• The practice was clean and tidy and staff had reviewed aspects of their infection prevention control however had not carried out an annual infection control audit.
• The practice had considered equipment for use in the treatment of patients, including in the event of a medical emergency.
• Staff had received some training applicable to their role however we found there was training that had not been completed such as fire safety training. Staff we spoke with felt that additional time was required to carry out their duties and training.
• Staff we spoke with on the day said they had not received information regarding sepsis and would benefit from further training.
• Data from the national GP patient survey published in July 2017 showed patients rated the practice in line with national averages for all aspects of care.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• The practice had found it difficult to form a patient participation group. However, they had monitored the views of their patients through internal survey and online reviews and communicated with them through their practice website and the information board in the waiting area. We received 23 positive comment cards regarding the care and service at the practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Strengthen the system for infection control by carrying out an annual infection control audit.
• Improve the system for updating policies so they contain the most current information.
• Improve staff training in relation to the signs and symptoms of sepsis and fire safety procedures.

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

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

Updated 29 August 2018

Updated 29 August 2018

Updated 29 August 2018

Updated 29 August 2018

Updated 29 August 2018

Updated 29 August 2018