• Doctor
  • GP practice

Archway NHS Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

652 Holloway Road, London, N19 3NU (020) 7272 0111

Provided and run by:
Archway NHS Medical Centre

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 23 August 2023

Archway NHS Medical Centre (“the practice”) operates at 652 Holloway Road, London N19 3NU. Some administrative staff are based at a nearby office, which we visited as part of the inspection.

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities: diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice is located in Islington, part of the North Central London Integrated Care System and delivers Personal Medical Services (PMS) under a contract held with NHS England. At the date of our inspection, 24,869 patients were registered with the practice, of which around 6,963 are Islington residents. Others have registered as out of area patients, accessing the service online using a mobile app. This was in accordance with changes made by NHS commissioners, allowing practices to register patients outside their areas.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/registering-with-a-gp-outside-your-area/

The practice is part of a wider network, the Islington 2 North Primary Care Network (PCN) consisting of eight local GP practices.

Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the local area is in the third lowest decile (three of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest published data (2015), the ethnic make-up of the local area is 66% White; 15% Black; 9% Asian; 7% Mixed, and 3% Other.

The practice provided us with data on the age range and gender of registered patients:

Children and younger people – up to 19 years: 1,463 (6%)

Student and working age people – 20 to 49: 20,852 (84%)

Older people – over 50s: 2,554 (10%)

There were slightly more female patients (51%) than males (49%)

The practice had some limited current data regarding the patient list: 48% White; 15% Asian Indian; 11% Asian Chinese; 7% Asian Bangladeshi; 5% Asian Pakistani; 5% Asian other; 3% Black; 3% Arab; 3% Mixed. However, this data related to only 17% of the patients registered, with the remaining 83% refusing to state their ethnicity on registration questionnaires.

The practice is operated by five partners, three of whom are GPs, one a nurse. The clinical team includes 3 salaried GPs, and 12 engaged locum GPs (the locums working remotely on various shift patterns); five nurses, one of whom specialises in sexual health and another in mental health; five clinical pharmacists; three physicians associates; a physiotherapist; a dietitian and a healthcare assistant.

The clinicians are supported by an administrative team of 21, including a practice manager and assistant, three other managerial staff, medical secretaries and administrators and receptionists.

The practice location is open between 8:00 am and 6:30 pm Monday to Friday, with appointments available throughout the day.

The online service operates seven days a week, from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, providing phone and video consultations, also allowing contact with service administration.

Extended access is provided locally by the PCN, which operates at six Hub locations in the area, where late evening and weekend appointments are available. Patients calling the practice out of hours are connected to NHS111.

The NCL ICS has commissioned an extended access bridging service which is provided by the Islington GP Federation. It operates at three Hub locations in the area, where additional weekend appointments outside of core extended access hours are available.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 23 August 2023

We carried out an announced comprehensive of Archway NHS Medical Centre (“the practice”) involving a site visit on 19 July 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

  • Safe - Good
  • Effective - Good
  • Caring - Good
  • Responsive - Good
  • Well-led - Good

The practice had last been inspected in February 2018, when we rated it Good overall. The full reports for previous inspections can be found on the following page of our website:

https://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-547846390/reports

Why we carried out this inspection

We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities, in response to information shared with us by service commissioners. This related to the significant expansion of the patient list with large numbers registering as out of area patients.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

  • Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
  • Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
  • Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
  • Requesting evidence from the provider.
  • A site visit.
  • Reviewing direct feedback from patients via our website.

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 found that:

  • People were protected from avoidable harm and abuse.
  • People have good outcomes because they receive effective care and treatment that meets their needs.
  • People are supported, treated with dignity and respect and are involved as partners in their care.
  • People’s needs are met through the ways services are organised and delivered.
  • The leadership, governance and culture promote the delivery of high quality person-centred care.

We identified the following example of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had identified an opportunity to provide services to people registered out of area, catering to all patients, particularly to students and working age people. It had been proactive and innovative in its involvement in designing and implementing the service app., which was compliant with NHS requirements, and in setting up a business model to allow patients living out of area to register with the service. It provided all patients who used to app. with online services and remote consultations over long operating hours, seven days a week. All patients who use the service app. can directly book face to face appointments at the practice location from Monday to Friday. The app. contained a suite of management and monitoring tools allowing the practice to identify and implement improvements moving forward.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

  • The practice should continue with work to increase the uptake of childhood immunisations and cervical screening.

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 Health Care