The Care Quality Commission
  • Doctor
  • GP practice

University Medical Group Also known as University of Reading Medical Practice

Overall: Outstanding read more about inspection ratings

University Health Centre, 9 Northcourt Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 7HE (0118) 987 4551

Provided and run by:
University Medical Group

All Inspections

6 July 2023

During a monthly review of our data

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

17/06/2019

During an inspection looking at part of the service

We carried out an announced inspection of University Medical Group on 17 June 2019.

We carried out the 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: Was the practice providing safe, effective and well-led services.

Because of the assurance received from our review of information we carried forward the ratings for the following key questions: Was the practice providing caring and responsive services.

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.

The last inspection of this practice was carried out in January 2015 when it was rated outstanding overall. Since the last inspection the number of patients registered at the practice had increased by over 10,000 and the practice had taken on another site.

Our findings at this inspection resulted in maintaining an overall rating of outstanding for the practice.

All population groups remain rated outstanding because the rating for provision of responsive service was outstanding for all and has been carried forward from the last inspection. Our review of information and patient feedback prior to inspection identified high levels of satisfaction with access to the service.

We found:

  • 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 way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
  • Personal development and learning was actively promoted and a wide range of learning opportunities were provided for staff of all grades and disciplines.
  • The practice organised and provided services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
  • Patient feedback was consistently positive and the practice took account of feedback in the way services were provided.
  • When changes were made to the way the service was provided the practice managed these in a sensitive and controlled manner. The views of staff and patients were sought and acted upon when changes were proposed and carried out.

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

  • Ensure staff follow the recording processes for medicines fridges in accordance with the practice cold chain policy. The practice needs to be reassured that fridge temperatures are maintained within range to maintain vaccines and refrigerated medicines fit for purpose.
  • Review the outcomes for patients diagnosed with long term mental health problems where national indicators identify below average performance.
  • Update the risk assessments for medicines held for use in a medical emergency.

We identified an area of outstanding practice:

  • A virtual diabetes clinic was introduced with the local diabetes consultant to improve care for patients diagnosed with diabetes who were having difficulty managing their condition. This has resulted in a 3.6% reduction in the levels of blood sugar (lower blood sugar levels indicate better control of diabetes). Overall the benchmarking showed a 10% improvement in care of patients with diabetes. The improvement has been achieved during a period when the number of patients diagnosed with diabetes increased by 20%. Benchmarking data showed the performance to be the best in the locality.
  • Governance processes and procedures to ensure high quality, patient focused, care had been maintained during a period of rapid increase in patient numbers and expansion into a second practice site.

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

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care

28 January 2015

During a routine inspection

We undertook a comprehensive inspection of the University Medical Centre on 28 January 2015. We have rated the practice overall as outstanding.

Specifically, we found the practice to be outstanding for providing responsive service and for being well led. It was also outstanding for providing services for the people with long-term conditions, for working age people (including those recently retired and students), for people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and for people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). It was good for providing caring, effective and safe services.

Our key findings were as follows:

  • The practice was responsive to the needs of the local population and engaged effectively with other services.
  • There was a culture of openness, transparency, continual learning and improvement within the practice.
  • The practice was committed to providing high quality patient care and provided good support and training to staff to facilitate this.
  • 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.
  • Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and 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 several areas of outstanding practice including:

  • The practice had a clear vision, a strong learning culture and was committed to continued quality improvement. This culture was embodied by all of the staff. Staff responded to change and were encouraged to bring suggestions for improvement. All staff were united to deliver the practice vision, of providing high quality care to patients.
  • The practice promoted work with young people and schools as part of “You’re welcome initiative”. This included engaging students by offering work experience opportunities at the practice. The practice nurse had written a book on immunisations and used this to educate young children. The practice had engaged with students on a work experience basis, and had asked them to review the services they offered to teenagers and young patients.
  • Innovative approaches were evident to enable patients in vulnerable groups to access care services. For example, the practice held weekly diabetes clinics using the ‘House of Care’ model, in line with best practice. The practice hosted a Diabetic Eye screening clinic specifically for the residential care home patients with diabetes. The practice had arranged for a psychiatrist to hold regular clinics onsite to enable easy access to students, and audits showed this had positive impact on patients.