Woodlands Family Practice

Updated 20 October 2022

Woodlands Family Practice is located at Gillingham Medical Centre, Woodlands Road, Gillingham, ME7 2BU.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; Diagnostic and screening procedures, Family planning, Maternity and midwifery services, Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Surgical procedures.

The practice is situated within the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 20,398. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices, Gillingham Primary Care Network (PCN).

Information published by UK Health Security Agency shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fifth lowest decile (seven of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 92% White, 2% Black, 4% Asian, 1.5% Mixed and 0.5% other.

The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages. There are more female patients registered at the practice compared to males.

The practice is led by six partner GPs (one female and five male). The practice has a team of nine salaried GPs (five female and four male), a practice nurse manager (female), six nurses (female) and two healthcare assistants (female). The GPs are supported at the practice by a practice manager, finance manager, IT administrator and a team of reception/administration staff.

Woodlands Family Practice is open between 8am and 8pm on Monday; 8am to 7pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and 7am to 7pm on Thursday.

The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations, video consultations and advance appointments.

Extended access is provided locally by Gillingham PCN, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Out of hours services are arranged by NHS111 and provided by Medway on call care (MEDOCC).

Updated 20 October 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Woodlands Family Practice on 13 September 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe – Good

Effective - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Why we carried out this inspection

This was an announced comprehensive inspection to provide the practice with an up to date rating. At our previous inspection on 12 May 2016, the practice was rated Good overall.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Woodlands Family Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing,
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider,
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider,
• A short site visit.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service 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

We found that:

• Our clinical record searches found the safe management and monitoring of long-term conditions and high-risk medicines were effective.
• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of person-centre care.

The provider should:

• Continue with their plan to re-establish a patient participation group (PPG).
• Continue to improve levels of patient satisfaction.

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

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services