Oak Tree Partnership

Updated 19 July 2018

The Oak Tree partnership is located in a purpose built health centre which they have occupied since 2002. The practice is in an area of modern housing and there are a larger number of patients aged between 0 and 14 and 25 to 49 years than the average for Oxfordshire and England. There are approximately 800 patients aged over 65 registered with the practice which is significantly lower than the national average. A total of approximately 10,300 patients are registered and the practice has experienced a steady growth in registered patients in the last eight years to a point where the practice renegotiated their catchment area with NHS England. The new catchment area was agreed to manage future growth of the practice at sustainable levels. Data shows there to be minimal income deprivation among the registered population.

Six GPs work at the practice equating to just over 4.5 whole time GPs. Four are partners and two are employed GPs. Five of the GPs are female and one male. There are three practice nurses. There are also two health care assistants and a part time paramedic practitioner. The practice holds a General Medical Services (GMS) contract and is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide the regulated activities of: Treatment of disease, disorder and injury, Diagnostic and screening procedures, Maternity and midwifery, Family planning and Surgical procedures.

The practice is open between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. It operates a system called GP access where patients receive a call from a GP to either assess the requirement for a face to face appointment or complete the appointment over the phone. All appointments are offered on the day the patient calls and can be given at any time from 8.20am until the practice closes.

The practice has opted out of providing out of hours services to their patients. Out of hours services are provided by Oxfordshire GP out of hours service. The service is accessed via NHS 111. There are arrangements in place for services to be provided when the surgery is closed and these are displayed at the practice and on the patient website.

All services are provided from:

Oak Tree Health Centre, Tyne Avenue, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 7GD

Updated 19 July 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating December 2015 – 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 Oak Tree Partnership (Oak Tree Health Centre) on 12 June 2018. This inspection was part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had a system 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. However, within one day of the inspection the practice made further improvements to their incident reporting 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.
• The practice regularly reviewed the composition of the clinical team to meet the needs of patients. For example, a paramedic practitioner and a practice nurse trained to deal with minor illnesses had recently been appointed.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• Patients offered mixed feedback about the practice appointment system. Particularly when accessing the practice by telephone. The practice was aware of this and was installing an updated telephone system. However, patients reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
• The practice performance in meeting indicators of care for patients with long term conditions had improved in 2017/18.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the implementation and sustainability of the revised processes introduced on the day of inspection.
• Follow up patients due cervical cytology screening who have not attended after being invited for this screening under the national recall system.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 19 July 2018

Updated 19 July 2018

Updated 19 July 2018

Updated 19 July 2018

Updated 19 July 2018

Updated 19 July 2018