• Doctor
  • GP practice

Sandgate Road

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

The Surgery, 180 Sandgate Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 2HN (01303) 851241

Provided and run by:
Sandgate Road

All Inspections

During an assessment under our new approach

Sandgate Road is located at The Surgery, 180 Sandgate Road, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 2HN. The practice is in the town of Folkestone which has a population of about 43,000 people. The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. Sandgate Road is within the NHS South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group and provides services to approximately 12,800 patients under the terms of a general medical services (GMS) contract. This is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community. There are 5 GP partners (3 female and 2 male). There are 3 salaried GPs ( female). There are 6 nurses and 3 healthcare assistants. The practice is a training practice. The practice also trains paramedics, to fulfil a role of a paramedic practitioner specialist to undertake home visits for the practice's patients. The clinical team is supported by a practice manager, and an administration and a reception team. The practice population ethnic profile is predominantly White British. The area experiences slightly higher deprivation than the national average and there are pockets of more severe social deprivation within the practice area. Appointments are available from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday and patients have the choice of face to face or telephone consultations for the vast majority of appointments. Extended access is also provided 9am to 4pm on Saturday.

16/12/2019

During a routine inspection

Following our annual regulatory review of the information available to us, we inspected this service on 16 December 2019. The service was last inspected in January 2015. It was rated as good for providing safe, effective,caring and well led services. It was rated as outstanding for providing responsive services. The outstanding rating followed from the practice’s involvement in a project which has since ended.

The current inspection looked at the following key questions; was the service providing effective, responsive and well led services for the registered patient population. We decided not to inspect whether the practice was providing safe or caring services as there was no information from the annual regulatory review which indicated this was necessary

The ratings from our previous inspection for safe and caring services have been carried through to contribute to the overall rating for the practice

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 and good for safe, effective, responsive, caring and well-led services because:

  • The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
  • Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
  • Services were tailored to meet the needs of individual patients. They were delivered in a flexible way that ensured choice and continuity of care.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • Governance systems were effective and regularly reviewed.
  • The practice was engaged in local initiatives and worked alongside partners in the local healthcare system.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups except the population group older people. We rated this as outstanding because the practice’s specialist team provided a person-centred, integrated and responsive service to these patients.

The areas where the practice should make improvements are:

  • Review and implement actions for the management of documentation to help ensure it is kept up to date.
  • Implement actions to improve uptake for the cervical screening programme to meet the national target of 80%.

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

14 January 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Sandgate Road on 14 January 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing well-led, effective and caring services. It was outstanding for providing responsive services. It was also outstanding for providing services for people with long-term conditions. It was good for providing services for the care to older people, families, children and young people, working age people (including those recently retired and students) and people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and report incidents and near misses. All opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised.
  • The practice used innovative and proactive methods to improve patient outcomes, working with other local providers to share best practice. For example, the practice is one of eight practices in the South Kent Coast Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to be awarded the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund allowing all the eight local practices in the Folkestone area to host primary care services, seven days a week, and an urgent home visit service outside of core practice hours.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Information was provided to help patients understand the care available to them.
  • The practice implemented suggestions for improvements and made changes to the way it delivered services as a consequence of feedback from patients and from the Patient Participation Group (PPG).
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand
  • The practice had a clear vision which had quality and safety as its top priority. A business plan was in place, was monitored and regularly reviewed and discussed with all staff. High standards were promoted and owned by all practice staff with evidence of team working across all roles.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice through the work of one GP continues to lead on the introduction of the Pro-Active Care Project into Shepway. Some patients from the practice have already benefitted from this project, which seeks to help patients manage their long term chronic health problems themselves and improve their quality of life. This is achieved through a twelve week programme which seeks to address all aspects of a patient’s lifestyle with a view to tackling underlying issues as well as the medical condition itself.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice