Botley Medical Centre

Updated 7 April 2022

Botley Medical Centre delivered a presentation to its Patient Participation Group (PPG) on 3 March 2022. The presentation included an update on practice staffing and clinical appointments, and responses to questions from patients. These included blood test results, follow ups around chronic conditions, dealing with letters from consultants, booking appointments, access for patients who are unable to use a telephone, and how it handles prescriptions. 

Following the latest CQC inspection, the practice rating has risen from 'inadequate' to 'requires improvement'. The latest report can be seen on the CQC website.

Updated 26 November 2021

Botley Medical Centre is making progress with its action plan to make the improvements required by the Care Quality Commission. Recruitment to vacant posts has been successful and the reception team is now fully staffed, so waiting times to get through on the phones have reduced. The practice has also welcomed two new medical secretaries and a clinical coder to the team and is hopeful that a prescriptions clerk will be recruited following a re-advertisement of the post.

Telephones are manned throughout the day. There are occasions (particularly between 8am and 11.30am) when the practice phones are very busy as patients seek to make an appointment with a GP. During this time it can take longer for calls to be answered, but a call back system does operate and becomes active when more than four people are in the phone queue.

Patients are also being  encouraged to take up appointments with clinicians other than GPs and who, in many instances, can help with an issue more quickly. For these appointments patients are asked to call between 11.30am and 1pm and after 2pm.

If any patient has a concern relating to the practice they should email the Practice Manger at botleymedicalcentre@nhs.net in the first instance to try to get the matter resolved.

Updated 13 October 2021

Care Quality Commission inspectors are pleased with progress at the practice to tackle the challenges and issues outlined in their previous findings, and a summary report from a recent interim inspection is available here

Botley Medical Centre patients can now access digital appointments with a Livi GP through their smart phones or computer. Livi doctors can offer medical advice, along with prescriptions delivered to a local pharmacy. This increases the appointments offered to patients by 100 per week. The practice website has more information about the system and leaflets are available at both surgeries. 

Recruitment for vacancies at the practice is a priority and is progressing. A medical secretary, social prescriber and two Mind (mental health) workers will join the team shortly.  

1 June 2021 

GPs and staff at Botley Medical Centre are working through an action plan with Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (OCCG) and patient representatives to address serious concerns after a recent Care Quality Commission inspection (CQC).

The health watchdog visited the practice earlier this year to check on progress after a previous inspection in October 2019 when it rated the surgery as 'requires improvement'. The staff at the practice and its branch surgery in Kennington had started to address the CQC's concerns but, regrettably, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have not been able to make as much progress as they hoped. 

Now the CQC has rated the practice as 'inadequate' and requires further urgent action to ensure patients can get safe, good quality care.

The report can be found here 

OCCG is supporting the practice in appointing a transformation partner to provide extra capacity and expertise to help the staff address the issues. An agreed and detailed action plan has been drawn up, which the practice will be following and which will be carefully monitored. Regular progress updates will be shared here and on the practice website .

Dr Aintzane Ballestero, senior partner at the Botley Medical Centre, said the practice wishes to provide patients with high standards of care at all times, so the team is disappointed with the CQC’s findings. She has reassured patients that she and her colleagues are committed to making significant improvements as quickly as possible by working closely with Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and the Patient Participation Group to ensure the practice’s future.

Julie Dandridge, head of primary care at OCCG, said  OCCG is committed to supporting the practice with a clear plan of action as it gets on track to make the improvements required by the CQC for the benefit of patients.

Letter to patients

1 June 2021

From Dr Aintzane Ballestero, Senior Partner on behalf of Botley Medical Centre’s Partnership

The dedicated practice team here at Botley Medical Centre and our Kennington branch surgery have always wished to give you high standards of care. We understand your disappointment and frustration over long waits to get through to us on the phones, accessing appointments and the updating of some patient records. Please accept our apologies.

We want to assure you that we are committed to making significant improvements as quickly as possible.  

We have had many challenges over the last few months with staff shortages and trying to carry on providing ‘normal’ services, while at the same time taking part in the urgent COVID-19 vaccination roll-out.

With the closure of the vaccination programme, we will be able to concentrate on working hard to get on track so you can continue have confidence in the care we provide.

The Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group is supporting us with extra practice management support to improve our procedures and processes. An agreed and detailed action plan has been drawn up which we will be following.

We recognise the role that the Patients Participation Group has played. They have communicated your concerns and disappointments to us. They have provided support through the volunteers at the Kennington Vaccination Centre and the 60 drivers who have brought elderly and infirm people for their vaccinations. They have also made offers of help which we hope to be able to take up. We will meet with them regularly from now on and keep you updated through our website. We are hopeful that we can make progress together to ensure the practice has a bright future.

You may be aware that we recently underwent a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection to check on progress after our previous inspection in October 2019 when the CQC rated the surgery as 'requires improvement'. We had started to address the CQC's concerns when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Regrettably, we have not made as much progress as we had hoped and this has been clearly communicated to us. We are expecting the CQC to publish its latest report soon and you will be able to read it on our website.   

In the meantime, we thank you sincerely for staying with the practice. We will keep you updated on our progress as we work on making Botley Medical Centre the practice you expect and deserve.