The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

Queen Camel Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

West Camel Road, Queen Camel, Yeovil, Somerset, BA22 7LT (01935) 850225

Provided and run by:
Queen Camel Medical Centre

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

We carried out a review of the data available to us about Queen Camel 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 Queen Camel Medical Centre, you can give feedback on this service.

13 November 2019

During a routine inspection

We carried out an inspection of this service due to the length of time since the last inspection. Following our review of the information available to us, including information provided by the practice, we focused our inspection on the following key questions:

This inspection looked at the following key questions:

  • Safe
  • Effective
  • Caring
  • Responsive
  • Well Led

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 all population groups.

We found that:

  • 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.
  • The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • Staff treated patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care. The practice ethos was to provide an accessible and approachable patient-orientated service.
  • The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care. Leaders had the capacity and skills to deliver high-quality, sustainable care.
  • Feedback from patients who used the service, those close to them and external stakeholders was positive about the way staff cared for patients.
  • Staff told us they felt supported and engaged with managers and there was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation
  • The practice had employed two health coaches, GPs and nurses could refer patients directly into this service. The health coaches supported people at home and offered self- care techniques to patients and their families. Through this service the practice has also been able to offer a befriending scheme and other social activities.
  • The practice had a text service for teenage patients allowing them priority access to appointments via text messages to the practice. The service was provided in response to teenage patients saying it was their preferred method of communication.
  • Practice GPs provided a weekly clinic during term time at a local preparatory school with 120 boarders.
  • The practice had acted on areas in the last inspection where we felt improvements should be made, these were:

  • A review of the fire evacuation procedure had been completed and there were clear roles and responsibilities for staff.
  • A robust audit trail and procedure was in place for medicines that were taken to other collection points.
  • There was now a clear complaints process being maintained.

We noted areas of outstanding practice:

  • There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs of different groups of patients. The practice had a text service for teenage patients allowing them priority access to appointments via text messages to the practice. The service was provided in response to teenage patient feedback saying it was their preferred method of communication. Practice GPs provided a weekly clinic during term time at a local preparatory school with 120 boarders.
  • Feedback from patients who used the service was continually positive about the way staff treated them and how they were listened to. An example of this is in the GP patient survey results (from 01/01/2019 to 31/03/2019) the practice achieved 100% compared to the local average of 96.9% for patients having confidence and trust in the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to within the practice.
  • The practice has employed two health coaches who have introduced initiatives such as a pre-diabetes prevention programme (patients are identified and offered education to support a healthier lifestyle), flexercise (an exercise group for patents who require chair-based exercise) health walks and a befriending scheme.

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

22 September 2015

During a routine inspection

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Doctors Hart, Taylor and Huins (Queen Camel Medical Centre) on 22 September 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing caring, well-led, effective, safe and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for the Older patients, Patients with long-term conditions, Families, children and young patients, Working age patients (including those recently retired and students), Patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable, and patients experiencing poor mental health (including patients diagnosed with dementia).

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

  • Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and to report incidents and near misses. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
  • Risks to patients were assessed and well managed, including those relating to recruitment checks.
  • Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff received training appropriate to their roles and any further training needs had been identified and planned.
  • Patients said they were treated with a high degree of compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
  • Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand. We saw the practice had received a wealth of positive comments from patients and these were reflected in the comments of patients we spoke with.
  • Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment, these could be made with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
  • The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
  • There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.

We noted areas of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had a truly holistic approach to assessing, planning and delivering care and treatment and provided outstanding elements of support for patients particularly for patients nearing the end of their life, those who had a recent bereavement and for their carers. Patients in the end stages of their illness were cared for exclusively by their regular GP. The family had access to the home phone number of the relevant GP at this time who provided 24 hour care and support. More than twice the national average number of patients were able to die at home (their chosen location) through care and support provided by the practice.
  • There was a proactive approach to understanding the needs of different groups of patients. The practice had a text service for teenage patients allowing them priority access to appointments via text messages to the practice. The service was provided in response to teenage patients saying it was their preferred method of communication. Practice GPs provided a weekly clinic during term time at a local preparatory school with 120 boarders.
  • Feedback from patients who used the service was continually positive about the way staff treated them. Patients provided many examples of the caring nature of practice staff. GPs gave them personal phone numbers, visited them in the evenings and at weekends during times of difficulty or bereavement and give additional personal time to talk with family members about medical diagnosis.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider should;

  • Review procedures for medicines taken to other collection points, to ensure a robust audit trail is maintained.
  • Review the fire evacuation procedure to make clearer the roles, responsibilities and procedures for staff and patients.
  • Review complaints processes to ensure a clearer record of complaints is maintained and records are retained for the required period.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice