Background to this inspection
Updated
7 April 2020
Symphony Health Services (SHS) is the registered provider of Martock Surgery, which has a branch premises at South Petherton. SHS is an NHS health care provider, based in Somerset that was developed as part of the South Somerset Symphony Programme – a project which aims to create new and innovative ways to delivering high quality care to patients and strengthening and supporting primary care in the local area. SHS have been providing a service from Martock Surgery since December 2018.
The service is provided from two addresses; Martock Surgery, Church Street, Martock, Somerset TA12 6JL and South Petherton Medical Centre, Bernard Way, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5EG. We visited the branch surgery as part of our inspection. Further information about the practice can be found at www.martocksurgery.co.uk.
Martock Surgery is registered with the CQC in respect of the regulated activities: Diagnostic and screening procedures; Family planning; Maternity and midwifery services; Surgical procedures and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. They provide general medical services (GMS) to approximately 11,000 patients.
Public Health England states the practice area population group is in the eighth least deprived decile in England. The practice population is similar to local and national averages. Of patients registered with the practice, 99% are White or White British.
The practice age profile is in line with local and national averages. There are higher than average number of patients aged over 65 years, in common with the characteristics of this area, and fewer patients aged below 30 years than the national average.
There is a team of six salaried GPs, two female and four male who provide face to face and remote triage services. An advanced nurse practitioner acts as the clinical lead and is supported by three further nurse practitioners. The practice team includes two emergency care practitioners, a clinical pharmacist, three practice nurses, four health care assistants, an operational manager and administrative staff. Administrative staff include receptionists, a workflow optimisation team and a prescription team.
The practice has opted out of providing Out Of Hours services to their own patients. Patients can access a local Out Of Hours GP service via NHS 111.
Updated
7 April 2020
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating April 2019 – Good overall with requires improvement for effective and the population groups patients with long term conditions and patients experiencing poor mental health (including dementia).
The key question at this inspection is rated as:
Are services effective? – Good.
We rated all the population groups as Good.
We carried out an announced focused inspection at Martock Surgery on 3 March 2020 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breach in Regulation 12 HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014: Safe care and treatment. This was because the provider was failing to provide safe care and treatment in the form of regular health checks for patients with long term conditions, and patients experiencing poor mental health (including dementia). And the practice achieved below average results for regular monitoring of registered patients with hypertension, diabetes, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) and cancer screening.
During this inspection we reviewed areas where the provider should make improvements identified in our previous inspection (2 April 2019) and our key lines of enquiry for ‘Effective’. Previously we told the provider they should:
- Continue to deploy resources to address the administrative backlog of work.
- Ensure that management vacancies at the practice are filled in a timely manner to minimise disruption to the service.
- Continue to focus on increasing the number of cervical smear checks and other cancer screening, in line with national guidance.
The full comprehensive report on the April 2019 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Martock Surgery on our website at
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.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had improved systems and processes to review patients and we found risks to patients were assessed and well managed such as the monitoring of patients with long term conditions or those experiencing poor mental health (including Dementia). Backlogs in patient reviews had been addressed and data indicated improvements.
- The practice had reviewed the workforce, increased clinical staff and administrative staff and where unable to had long-term locum clinicians supporting them.
The areas where the provider should make improvements:
- Continue to monitor cervical smear screening to meet Public Health England screening rates.
Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP
Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care
Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.