Background to this inspection
Updated
8 February 2017
Whitburn Surgery provides Primary Medical Services to the village of Whitburn and the surrounding areas. The practice provides services from one location, 3 Bryers Street, Whitburn, Tyne and Wear, SR6 7EE. We visited this address as part of the inspection.
The surgery is located in purpose built premises. There is step free access at the front of the building and all facilities are on the ground floor. There is car parking to the front of the surgery for patients and also street parking outside of the surgery grounds. There are no dedicated disabled bays in the car park.
The practice has three GP partners, all male. Two of the GPs work part-time and the whole time equivalent (WTE) of GPs is 2.1. There are two practice nurses and one healthcare assistant, all of who are part-time (nursing WTE 0.96 and healthcare assistant WTE 0.32). There is a practice manager and five reception and administration staff.
The practice provides services to approximately 5,065 patients of all ages. The practice is commissioned to provide services within a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England and is part of NHS South Tyneside clinical commissioning group (CCG).
The practice is open from 8.30am until 6pm Monday to Friday and closes for lunch from 12.30pm until 1pm. There are no extended opening hours.
Consulting times with the GPs are as follows;
Monday – 9-11.30am and 3-5.40pm
Tuesday – 8.40-11.20am and 3-5.40pm
Wednesday – 9-11.05am and 3-5.10pm
Thursday – 8.40–11.20 and 3-5.40pm
Friday – 9-11.30 and 2.30-5.20pm
The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out of hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Vocare, known locally as Northern Doctors Urgent Care Limited.
Updated
8 February 2017
Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice
On 18 May 2016 we carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitburn Surgery. The overall rating for the practice was requires improvement, having being judged as requires improvement for Effective and Well Led and inadequate for Safe The full comprehensive report on the May 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Whitburn Surgery on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
Following the comprehensive inspection the practice wrote to us to say what they would do to meet the following legal requirements set out in the Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) 2008:
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Regulation 12 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Safe care and treatment.
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Regulation 15 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Premises and equipment.
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Regulation 17 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Good governance.
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Regulation 18 Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 Staffing.
This announced comprehensive inspection was carried out on the 5 January 2017 in order to review the action by the practice to be compliant with the regulations. Overall the practice is now rated as good.
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Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns, and report incidents and near misses; improvements had been made to the significant event reporting process.
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Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
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Outcomes for patients who use services were good.
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Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
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Staff were consistent and proactive in supporting patients to live healthier lives through a targeted approach to health promotion. Information was provided to patients to help them understand the care and treatment available.
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Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
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The practice had a system in place for handling complaints and concerns and responded quickly to any complaints.
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Patients we spoke with raised no concerns regarding making an appointment.
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The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
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There was a leadership structure in place and staff felt supported by management. The practice sought feedback from staff and patients, which they acted on.
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The practice was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour regulation.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP)
Chief Inspector of General Practice
People with long term conditions
Updated
8 February 2017
The practice is rated as good for the care of patients with long-term conditions.
The practice had a register of patients with long term conditions which they monitored for recall appointment for health checks. The practice’s electronic system was used to flag when patients were due for review and they had recently changed the way they recalled patients for review. Where appropriate patients with complex conditions were discussed amongst the clinicians at their regular multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings.
The practice nurses had received training in the management of asthma and diabetes. This allowed them to assess diagnose and initiate treatment of patients with these conditions and ensure they received a high standard of care.
Families, children and young people
Updated
8 February 2017
The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people.
There were systems in place to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk. Immunisation rates were higher than clinical commissioning group (CCG) and national averages. For example, childhood immunisation rates for the vaccinations given to five year olds were at 97.8%, compared to CCG averages of 96% to 99%.
There was also a baby and child immunisation clinic every Tuesday afternoon. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.
The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 80%, which was comparable to the national average of 81%. The practice also encouraged its patients to attend national screening programmes for bowel and breast cancer screening. Family planning services were available at the practice.
Updated
8 February 2017
The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.
The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population. For example, patients at high risk of hospital admission and those in vulnerable circumstances had care plans in place. All patients over the age of 75 had an allocated named GP. The practice maintained a palliative care register and end of life care plans were in place for those patients it was appropriate for. They offered immunisations for pneumonia and shingles to older people and in their own home where necessary. The practice provided a phlebotomy, spirometry and could carry out electrocardiograms (ECG). Prescriptions could be sent to any local pharmacy electronically.
The practice was the nominated lead practice and provided care to approximately 20 patients in a local care home. The visiting was shared between the GPs.
Working age people (including those recently retired and students)
Updated
8 February 2017
The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age people (including those recently retired and students).
The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care. The practice was proactive in offering online services which included appointment booking, test results and ordering repeat prescriptions. There was a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs for this age group. Flexible appointments were available, including telephone consultations; however, there were no extended opening hours.
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia)
Updated
8 February 2017
The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).
The practice maintained a register of patients experiencing poor mental health and recalled them for regular reviews. Patients were advised how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Where appropriate patients with complex conditions were discussed amongst the clinicians at their regular MDT meetings.
People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable
Updated
8 February 2017
The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.
The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary (MDT) teams in the case management of vulnerable people. They had told vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours. Where appropriate, patients with complex conditions were discussed amongst the clinicians at their regular MDT meetings.
The practice’s computer system alerted GPs if a patient was a carer. There were 83 coded on the practice system which was 1.6% of the practice population. The practice told us that providing support for carers was something they were looking to improve on.