We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Hamdon Medical Centre on 31 January 2019 as part of our inspection programme. Hamdon Medical Centre became part of Symphony Healthcare Services in May 2018. This was its first inspection under the new provider.

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.

We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.

We found that:

• The practice had systems 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.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• There were systems in place for reviews of patients and their medicines.
• There was a programme of annual reviews of patients with long term conditions, mental health needs and dementia, although improved regarding the previous year’s information they were still slightly below the expected local and national targets in some areas. The practice shared information they were on target to complete the programme before the end of the financial year.
• Staff encouraged and supported patients to be involved in monitoring and managing their own health, for example through the involvement of health coaches and social prescribing schemes.
• The patient participation group was newly reformed and was beginning to have a positive effect to keep patients informed and involved in the practice and the services it provides.
• There was an active programme of clinical audit that had a positive impact upon the outcomes for patient care, learning was shared across the provider organisation.
• The new providers policies and procedures and system of governance which had been implemented and embedded showed there was an effective system of monitoring at the local level and at provider level.

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

• Continue with addressing the gaps in maintaining meeting the patients’ needs including patients with long term conditions, mental health and dementia.
• Improve the identification of carers to enable this group of patients to access the care and support they need.

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

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice