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  • GP practice

The Acorn Group Practice - Jackson

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

29-35 Holly Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW1 4EA (020) 8892 4519

Provided and run by:
The Acorn Group Practice - Jackson

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 26 September 2018

The Acorn Group Practice provides primary medical services in Twickenham to approximately 8600 patients and is one of 29 practices in Richmond Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The practice population is in the least deprived decile in England. The proportion of children registered at the practice who live in income deprived households is 7%, which is lower than the CCG average of 10%; for older people the practice value is 11%, which is lower than the CCG average of 12%. The age profile of patients registered at the practice is broadly the same as the CCG averages; however, the practice population has a slightly below average proportion of patients aged under 18 years (34% compared with a CCG average of 40%); the majority of patients at the practice are aged between 15 and 44 years. Of patients registered with the practice, the largest group by ethnicity are white (85.9%), followed by Asian (7.5%), mixed (3.6%), black (1.6%) and other non-white ethnic groups (1.5%).

The practice is situated over three floors of a purpose-built medical centre. The building comprises of a reception and waiting area, nurse and GP consultation rooms on the ground floor, further consultation rooms on the first floor, and administrative space on the second floor. All floors are accessible by both stairs and a lift. Patient and staff toilets area available, including an accessible toilet with baby changing facilities on the ground floor.

The practice team at the surgery is made up of three full time GPs who are partners (one female, two male), three part time salaried GPs (all female), a part time practice nurse, a part time healthcare assistant and a part time pharmacist. The practice team also consists of a practice manager, assistant practice manager, nine receptionists, a secretary and a finance assistant.

The practice operates under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract, and is signed up to a number of local and national enhanced services (enhanced services require an enhanced level of service provision above what is normally required under the core GP contract).

The practice is open between 8:30am and 6pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are from 8:30am to 5:30pm. An extended hours surgery is offered between 6:30pm and 7:45pm on Tuesdays. In total 34.5 GP sessions are available per week. Patients can also access appointments via the CCG seven-day opening Hub, which offers appointments from 8am until 8pm every day.

When the practice is closed patients are directed to contact the local out of hours service.

The practice is registered as a sole provider with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening services; maternity and midwifery services; treatment of disease, disorder or injury; surgical procedures; and family planning.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 26 September 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating October 2014 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Acorn Group Practice - Jackson on 17 July 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
  • The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had worked in conjunction with its PPG to improve the support offered to young carers. This involved liaising with the local carers’ charity and school nurse to increase the number of young carers recorded on the practice’s system, developing a young carers information pack, and presenting to the local PPG network and Regional CCG representatives in order to share learning.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Introduce a system for recording which clinical room stocks of prescription sheets are assigned to, and introduce and monitor a system for reviewing uncollected prescriptions.
  • Provide training to non-clinical staff on identifying the signs of sepsis.
  • Review the arrangements in place to address the areas of premises non-compliance highlighted in the infection prevention and control audit, to ensure that these adequately mitigate the risks identified.
  • Whilst the practice was very pro-active in identifying and supporting young carers, they should ensure that the processes they have in place to identify adult carers are effective in identifying all patients who may require support.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.