Updated 20 October 2017
Parkside Family Practice (also known as Woodley Park Surgery) and Green Road Surgery (the branch practice) offer primary medical services to over 14,000 patients in the Woodley and Earley areas of Reading. The practice is part of Wokingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice area has an estimated low level of socio-economic deprivation, meaning few patients are affected by deprivation locally. However, there are a higher number of unemployed patients compared to local and national averages. Ethnicity based on demographics collected in the 2011 census shows the population of the local area ispredominantly white British with 15% of the population composed of people with an Asian background, 3% of the population composed of people with a black background and 4% of the population composed of people from other non-white ethnic backgrounds.
The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract. A GMS contract is a contract between NHS England and general practices for delivering general medical services. The practice offers GP and nursing consultations from two sites approximately five miles apart. Patients are given the option to be seen at either practice and staff work across both sites. The practice provides services to a care home for elderly patients and has an arrangement to provide medical services to a private high school.
The practice has five GP partners (four female, one male), two salaried GPs (one female, one male) and a long term locum GP (male). There are also two full time GP registrars (one male, one female). The GP combined whole time equivalent (WTE) is approximately 10 full time GPs. The all-female nursing team (WTE 4.5) consists of one nurse manager, a practice nurse, one nurse practitioner and two healthcare assistants (HCAs). The practice also employs a pharmacist for four sessions per week (WTE 0.5) and has two paramedic practitioners assigned to the practice, by the Wokingham Alliance, as part of a pilot programme. The practice is approved as a training practice to provide support and mentorship to qualified doctors who seek to become GPs.
Day to day management of the practice is delivered by the organisational and administration team consisting of a practice manager, eight administration staff, a summariser, an IT assistant, a finance assistant and 14 receptionists.
The main practice is located on the first floor of a commercial building. It shares the entrance, lift facilities and waiting area with another practice. There is ample parking available in a local pay and display car park which has designated disabled parking spaces. The entrance has push button opening doors which lead to the stairs and lift access. On the first floor automatic doors open onto a large waiting area with the two reception desks clearly identified and separate from one another. There is a lowered reception counter and adequate space to move around the practice for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
There are seven GP consultation rooms and one nurse treatment room which are accessible from the waiting area. There are two patient toilet facilities including a disabled toilet with emergency pull cord. Baby changing facilities are also available.
Green Road Surgery (the branch practice) is a two storey purpose built accommodation. There is a small car park outside with easy access to the building. There are four consultation rooms and one treatment room.
Both practice sites are open between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are from 8.30am to 12.50pm every morning and 3.50pm to 5.40pm daily. Extended hours clinics are available on Monday evenings until 8pm at the main surgery and Thursday mornings from 7am at the branch surgery. Alternate Saturday morning GP clinics are available between 8am and 12pm by appointment only. In addition, a specialist family planning clinic is held every Saturday afternoon 2pm to 4pm from the Woodley site.
The practice has opted out of offering out of hours services. Out of hours cover is provided by Westcall via the NHS 111 telephone service.
All services are provided from both Parkside family practice sites:
Woodley Park Surgery
6 Headley Road
Woodley
Reading
Berkshire
RG5 4JA
and
Green Road Surgery
224 Wokingham Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG6 1JS
We visited both practice sites during this inspection.