Pelsall Village Surgery

Updated 28 February 2024

Pelsall Village Surgery is a single-handed provider operating an NHS GP practice in Walsall, West Midlands which provides primary care services to 2,745 patients of various ages registered and cared for at the practice. This also includes the provision of GP services to a local care home. We found no concerns with access at this service. The practice provided GP services in an area considered to be 1 of the less deprived within its locality. The practice is a teaching practice; hosting medical students from Aston University. We carried out an announced assessment of 1 quality statement, Equity of Access, under the key question Responsive on the 12 March 2024. This assessment of the quality statement Equity in Access in the responsive key question included looking at what the practice was doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement. The responsive key question is still rated as good, and the service remains rated as good overall. We recognise the great and often innovative work that this GP practice have been engaged in to continue to provide responsive quality care to the people they serve. We know staff are doing this while demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. In this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. We found no concerns with access at the service. People could access services when they needed to, without physical or digital barriers, including out of normal hours. People were given support to overcome barriers to ensure equal access. The practice understood the challenges to patient access and responded to patient needs. The results of our findings have led us to rate the quality statement as ‘good’.

Updated 28 February 2024

The service engaged with the patients through the Patient Participation Group (PPG) and used internal surveys to involve their patient population; encouraging the sharing of their experience of the care and treatment received. The provider had an effective system to act on patient feedback, this enabled continuous improvement. The practice listened to the views of their patients and PPG to identify where they could improve their services. In 2023, patient satisfaction with all GP practices, were measured by the National GP Patient survey was lower than in previous years. Patients at Pelsall Village Surgery who responded to the national survey indicated satisfaction that was generally in line with the national average. For example, 53% of patients responded positively about how easy it was to get through to the practice by telephone compared to a national average of 50%. Patient satisfaction with the appointment (or appointments) they were offered was below average at 38% compared to the national average of 53%. This was a slight fall in satisfaction from 2022. This was due to the increase in patient appointment to meet the needs of the local community. The Practice implemented a new telephone system and designed a new patient flow to improve patient access, we heard the practice had ensured that patients could still access face to face appointments with their preferred clinician.