Date: September 2024
Reviewed and updated: May 2026
The name and address of the registered provider is Theale Medical Centre, Englefield Road, Theale, RG7 5AS
Please note that limited services are also provided through our branch surgery at Calcot.
Phone: 0118 930 3081
Email: bobicb-bw.tmc@nhs.net
Lead partner:
- Dr Clare Rock
Practice manager:
- Lottie Blake
The surgery is a purpose designed Medical Centre located in the village of Theale just outside Reading town centre with onsite parking.
Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (The Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 Part 4), the registering body (Theale Medical Centre) is required to provide to the Care Quality Commission a statement of purpose.
Our aims and objectives
- We aim to ensure high quality, safe and effective services and environment.
- To provide monitored, audited and continually improving healthcare services.
- To provide healthcare which is available to a whole population and create a partnership between patient and health profession which ensures mutual respect, holistic care and continuous learning and training.
- The provision of accessible healthcare which is proactive to healthcare changes, efficiency and innovation and development.
- To improve clinical governance and evidence based practice.
- To improve clinical and non-clinical risk management.
- To reduce risk in specific clinical risk areas and facilities.
- To improve environment and capacity.
- To improve vigilance for unforeseen emergencies.
- To optimise performance against key targets and core standards.
- To meet key targets.
- To meet annual health check.
- To manage payment by results.
- To become a patient centred organisation.
- To improve services offered to patients.
- To improve communication between the surgery and the patients.
- To recruit, retain and develop a highly motivated and appropriately skilled workforce.
- To enhance performance of the workforce.
- To develop management capability.
- To guide the employees in accordance with the Equalities Scheme.
- To continue the development of the estate.
- To ensure effective management and governance systems.
- To ensure robust business processes.
- To ensure a robust information technology strategy to support the business of Theale Medical Centre.
The registered activities and service types have been agreed by the Theale Medical Centre’s practice manager and partners in accordance with CQC guidance. Services are described under Registered Activity and Service Type.
The regulated activities under CQC are:
The services provided by Theale Medical Centre:
- Routine medical checks and general medical services.
- Urgent appointments are available through the Duty Clinics daily for immediately necessary conditions only.
- NHS prescriptions and medications that are relevant or a private prescription can be issued at Theale Medical Centre.
- Immunisations e.g. childhood immunisations.
- Foreign travel and immunisation.
- Healthy Heart Checks – Nursing staff are available to provide general health checks encompassing things such as weight, cholesterol levels, blood tests etc to help patients who wish to achieve a healthier lifestyle or identify any potential health issues early.
- Executive & employee medicals – Our GP’s are able to carry out medical report and review.
- Assessment of employees returning to work after illness.
- Smoking Cessation – Any patient who is a smoker and ready to stop smoking will be referred for an assessment by a stop smoking advisor.
- Respiratory clinic – Theale Medical Centre has facilities for spirometry / lung function testing.
- Diabetic clinic – Theale Medical Centre operates a diabetes clinic each week to provide ongoing care for our diabetic patients and run by trained nurses and supervised by a GP partner.
- Family planning clinic – Our family planning support and guidance is run by our nursing team.
- Flu vaccination – At Theale Medical Centre we offer ‘at risk’ groups the flu vaccine at a certain time each year to protect you against the flu virus.
- Phlebotomy – Theale Medical Centre offers blood tests Monday to Friday.
- Midwifery – The community midwives hold their own clinics at Theale Medical Centre for patients. They supervise antenatal care, undertake deliveries in hospital and at home where appropriate.
- Physiotherapy – NHS and private physiotherapy is available at Theale Medical Centre.
Boathouse physio is available to treat a number of conditions. - Well person checks – These can be carried out with any practice nurse.
- Minor Illness Clinic – These are run by a prescribing nurse and cater for things such as sore throats, chest and ear infections etc. daily
- ECG testing – At Theale Medical Centre, we offer ECG testing.
- Blood pressure – we are pleased to be able offer not only blood pressure testing but also a 24 hour monitoring service.
- Cervical screening -¬ At Theale Medical Centre our nurses are qualified to carry out cervical screening and tests in the form of cervical smears.
General information
Our practice ethos is to strive towards a partnership between patients and health professionals based on the following key facets:
Mutual respect
We endeavour to treat all our patients with dignity, respect and honesty. Everyone at Theale Medical Centre is committed to deliver an excellent service. We ask all patients to highlight any discrepancies and to offer the same commitment in return.
‘Holistic’ care
We treat ‘patients’ and illnesses. This means that we are equally interested in the physical, psychological and social aspects of your individual care.
Continuity of Care and the ‘therapeutic relationship’
Building and maintaining a strong relationship between doctors, health professionals, and patients is essential to the way we work. This is especially so in the management of ongoing problems or long term illness. In these circumstances we would encourage you to continue seeing the same health professional and wherever possible we will facilitate this through our appointments system. However, if you have a new problem, the doctor or nurse that you normally see is not available, or you would like to see someone else then we would encourage you to see any of the doctors or nurses at the practice.
Access to Patient information
All patient information is considered to be confidential and we comply fully with the Data Protection Act. All employees have access to this information in relation to their role and have signed a confidentiality agreement. Information may be shared, in confidence, with other NHS organisations in the interests of patient care. Confidential patient data will be shared within the health care team at the practice and with other healthcare professionals to whom a patient is referred. Those individuals have a professional and contractual duty of confidentiality.
Confidential and identifiable information relating to patients will not be disclosed to other individuals without their explicit consent, unless it is a matter of life and death or there is a serious risk to the health and safety of the patients or it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so.
Patients rights and responsibilities
You have a right to expect a high standard of care from our practice and we will try at all times to provide the very best care possible within the resources available.
In order to assist us in this we require that you take full responsibility for ensuring that you ensure the service is optimised. It is your responsibility for example to ensure that you keep medical appointments and follow the medical advice given. In additional if you feel that your medical problem is complicated or you have more than one problem to discuss with your doctor, we would suggest that you consider making more than one appointment. Please remember that your appointment is for you alone and your doctor will not be able to give medical advice to anyone accompanying you unless they have made a separate appointment.
Very occasionally a practice/patient relationship breaks down completed. In this situation the patient may choose to register with a different practice. The practice also has the right to remove a patient from their list. This would generally only following a warning that failed to remedy the situation and we would provide a specific reason to the patient for their removal.
You have the right to express a preference of practitioner when you make an appointment.
Violent patients
Theale Medical Centre operates a Zero Tolerance Policy with regard to violence and abuse and the practice has the right to remove violent patients from the list with immediate effect in order to safeguard practice staff, patients and other persons.
Violence in this context includes actual or threatened physical violence or verbal abuse which leads to fear for a person’s safety.
Comments, Suggestions and Complaints
We welcome comments and suggestions on our service. If we fail to provide the highest care possible, please make any observations known to our practice manager who will, where appropriate, use our complaints procedure to try to correct the problem.
Our staff are here to help you.
Access to Health Records
The data Protection Act allows you to find out what information about you is held on our system. This applies to your health records. If you wish to see them you should make a written request to the practice. You are entitled to receive a copy, but should note that a charge will be made.
Carers
A carer is someone who, without payment, provides help and support to a partner, child, relative, friend or neighbour who could not manage without their help. This could be due to age, physical or mental illness, substance misuse or disability. Anyone can become a carer, carers come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be of any age.
Please inform our reception staff if you are a carer or are cared for by another person. This will alert us to your possible needs in this role.
Website: www.nhs.uk/carersdirect or call 0808 8092 0202 for free confidential advice.
Change of personal details
Patients are asked to notify the practice as soon as possible of any change of name, address or contact number, not forgetting to indicate all the individuals involved in this change. In an emergency this could be absolutely vital.
Chaperone
Should you require a professional chaperone present at a consultation or procedure then please alert reception staff who can ensure that one is made available for you.
Policy on environmental management
We recognise the need to minimise any adverse environmental effects caused as a result of its activities or products, achieving our business objectives in a manner that reflects environmental priorities of our patients and the community. It acknowledges responsibility for and a commitment to protection of the environment at all levels. Theale Medical Centre will comply with applicable environmental regulations, laws and codes of practice whilst committing to continuous improvement of our environment management performance and the prevention of pollution. We recognise that our key adverse environmental impacts are energy, fuel consumption and waste generation.
Patient Participation Group
Theale Medical Centre is committed to continually improve our services by learning from and listening to our patients.
We have a Patient Participation Group and we are always looking for new members, please ask reception for a form or submit the form on our website.