We carried out a review of the data available to us about Oak Lodge Medical Centre on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Oak Lodge Medical Centre, you can give feedback on this service.
We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Oak Lodge Medical Practice in March 2016 as part of our inspection programme. We rated the practice as Good overall. We rated the practice Good for providing safe, effective, caring and well-led services and requires improvement for providing a responsive service. You can read the full report by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Oak Lodge Medical Practice on our website (www.cqc.org.uk).
We were mindful of the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on our regulatory function. This meant we took account of the exceptional circumstances arising as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic when considering what type of inspection was necessary and proportionate, this was therefore a desk-based inspection. On 29 September 2021, we carried out a desk-based review to confirm that the practice had carried out improvement plans to their service.
We found that the practice had put measures in place for ongoing improvement. The practice is now rated Good for providing responsive services.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
We have rated responsive as Good because:
Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:
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
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Oak Lodge Medical Centre on 30 March 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.
Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:
The areas where the provider should make improvement are:
Review the cleaning schedule to include carpets in clinical consultation rooms.
Take action to improve patient satisfaction in relation to access to the service and monitor the impact.
Chief Inspector of General Practice
During this inspection we looked again at standards relating to infection control. We saw that a risk assessment had taken place in January 2014 which identified risks and actions to be undertaken. We found that a follow up audit of general cleanliness had taken place in March 2014. The audit detailed what had been checked, by whom and when the checks had taken place. There was a procedure in place for conducting future audits to ensure that the provider continued to be assured that appropriate standards of cleanliness and hygiene in relation to the premises were being maintained. We saw that actions had been taken in response to issues found during the routine auditing process.
All patients we spoke with confirmed they could get an appointment if they needed one, and understood that it might be with any available GP. However, they told us it was increasingly difficult to get an appointment slot via the telephone booking system. Staff told us that when these appointments had been filled patients were given the option of a telephone consultation with the on-call GP, to provide advice or another suitable appointment slot.
People's diversity, values and human rights were respected. There were a number of policies in place in relation to respecting people's cultural and religious beliefs. All appointments took place in private and people were made aware of the chaperone policy. We observed notices in each consultation room.
Patients told us they were happy with the care and treatment provided. One patient told us 'the medical support is good here. It always has been throughout my 60 years of attending this medical centre.' Patients' needs were assessed and care and treatment planned and delivered in line with their individual plan of care.
There were arrangements in place to deal with foreseeable emergencies.
Patients were protected from the risk of abuse, because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse from happening. Patients told us they felt safe using the service and had confidence in the doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants at the practice.
Patients we spoke with thought that the medical centre was clean. For example, one patient described the medical centre as 'relatively clean and tidy."
Disposal of sharp instruments, such as needles, were safely managed. All medical devices and instruments used in the practice were single-use and were not reused. The medical centre was cleaned daily by outside contractors. However, the provider may find it useful to note that the standards of cleaning were not being monitored through a regular audit of cleanliness to ensure that the medical centre met appropriate hygiene standards.
We did not see evidence of a formal risk assessment of the practice in relation to infection prevention and control. Without a formal assessment of infection control risks in respect of the practice the provider could not be assured that appropriate measures were in place and that patients were protected from the risk of acquiring a health care associated infection.
Patients were protected against the risks associated with medicines because the provider had appropriate arrangements in place to manage medicines. The medical centre had a managing medicines policy and an immunisation/vaccination protocol in place
All nine patients we spoke with were unaware of the provider's complaints policy/procedure and also unclear about how and to whom they should raise their complaints. However, patients told us they would speak to their GP if they had any complaints or concerns or alternatively they would speak with reception staff.
Patients had their comments and complaints listened to and acted on. We looked at the complaints for each GP for the past year. All complaints were recorded appropriately in accordance with the medical centre's policy.