Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

Mersham Medical Centre, located in Thornton Heath in the London borough of Croydon provides a general practice service to just under 3,000 patients.

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 15 October 2014. The inspection took place over one day and was undertaken by a lead inspector, along with a GP advisor and an Expert by Experience.

Overall the practice is rated as Good.

• The service is safe. There were systems in place for reporting, recording and monitoring significant events to help provide improved care. Staff were clear of their roles in regards to monitoring and reporting of incidents, safeguarding vulnerable people and children, and following infection prevention and control guidelines.

• The service is effective. Staff shared best practice through internal arrangements and meetings and also by sharing knowledge and expertise with external consultants and other GP practices. There was a strong multidisciplinary input in the service delivery to improve patient outcomes.

• The service is caring. Feedback from patients about their care and treatment via the national and practice-run surveys was very positive. Patients were treated with kindness and respect and felt involved in their care decisions. All the comment cards completed by patients who used the service in the two weeks prior to our inspection visit had very positive comments about the care and service provided by the surgery.

• The service is responsive to people’s needs. The practice had an active Patient Participation Group (PPG) and worked with them to improve the service. The practice was responsive to the needs of the vulnerable patients and there was a strong focus on caring and on the provision of a patient-centred care. Information on health promotion and prevention, services provided by the practice and the support available in the community was available for patients.

• The service is well-led. The practice had a clear vision and strategic direction, was well-led, staff were suitably supported and patient care and safety was a high priority.

However, there were also areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements. 

The provider should:

• Ensure improvements in the documentation of the practice’s vision and strategic aims and objectives.
• Ensure all staff including those doing sessions have suitable recruitment checks completed before commencing employment.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

We reviewed the information available to us about Mersham Medical Centre on 22 May 2019. We did not find evidence of significant changes to the quality of service being provided since the last inspection. As a result, we decided not to inspect the surgery at this time. We will continue to monitor this information about this service throughout the year and may inspect the surgery when we see evidence of potential changes.