- GP practice
Islington House Medical Centre
Report from 7 February 2024 assessment
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Islington Medical Centre is an NHS GP practice which provides primary care services to patients in an area of Liverpool. We carried out an announced assessment of one quality statement, equity of access, under the key question Responsive at Islington Medical Centre on the 20 February 2024. We carried out the assessment as part of our work to understand how practices are working to try to meet peoples demands for access and to better understand the experiences of people who use services and providers. We recognise the work that GP practices have been engaged in to continue to provide safe, quality care to the people they serve. We know staff are carrying this out whilst the demand for general practice remains exceptionally high, with more appointments being provided than ever. However, in this challenging context, access to general practice remains a concern for people. Our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. The assessment of the quality statement equity of access includes looking at what practices are doing innovatively to improve patient access to primary care and sharing this information to drive improvement. Overall, the practice is rated as good and the key question responsive continues to be rated as providing a good service. We found that the practice had organised services to meet patients’ needs, particularly those who were most likely to have difficulty accessing care. The practice sought out and used feedback and other data/information to monitor and improve access.
People's experience of this service
In the 2023 National GP Patient Survey, the practice’s data demonstrated that patient satisfaction with GP practice appointment times was 71.1%. This is higher than the national average and similar in performance from previous year’s results. People also responded positively about how easy it is to get through to the practice by phone, satisfaction with the appointment offered, and with the overall experience of making an appointment. Responses were in line with the national and local averages and similar in performance to previous years. Results from the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT) were reviewed and found to be positive. For example, in December 2023, 43 people responded to the survey and 100% were positive about the practice. This is higher than the England average of 91%. Where any aspects of survey results were lower than expected the practice analysed these and made changes to improve. The practice had reviewed and responded to the feedback and continues to make improvements. We recognise the pressure that practices are currently working under, and the efforts staff are making to maintain levels of access for their patients. At the same time, our strategy makes a commitment to deliver regulation driven by people’s needs and experiences of care. We were told and saw that the practice sought and acted on feedback relating to access.