Whitby Health Partnership

Updated 31 August 2022

Whitby Health Partnership is located in Ellesmere Port at:

114 Chester Road

Whitby

Ellesmere Port

Merseyside

CH65 6TG

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. We identified that currently there is no registered manager and that the partnership details are incorrect. This was brought to the attention of the provider to be addressed without delay.

The practice is situated within NHS Cheshire and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 15,995. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fifth lowest decile (five of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 97.6% White, 1.2% Asian, 0.8% Mixed, 0.2% Black and 0.1% Other.

There is a team of nine GP partners and four salaried GPs. The practice has a team of seven nurses including advanced nurse practitioners, practice nurses and health care assistants. There are two clinical pharmacists, a care co-ordinator, psychotherapist and a GP assistant. The service is supported by a team of reception/administration staff. The practice manager, assistant practice manager, office manager and deputy office manager provide managerial oversight. The service is also a GP training practice.

The practice is open between 8 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, advance appointments, E-Consult, face to face, telephone consultations and home visits.

Out of hours services are accessed by calling NHS 111.

Updated 31 August 2022

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating February 2018 – Requires Improvement)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Whitby Group Practice Surgery – Red on 27 November 2018 as part of our inspection programme. We followed up on the areas that required improvement at the previous inspection (February 2018) and found these had improved.

At this inspection we found:

• 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 reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. Care and treatment was delivered according to evidence based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patient feedback identified that sometimes it was difficult to get through by telephone and to get an appointment. The practice was monitoring this and acting to improve access by reviewing the telephone system. They had recently introduced a GP telephone triage system.
• There were systems in place to mitigate safety risks including health and safety, infection control and dealing with safeguarding.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management.
• The practice reviewed and considered patient views through surveys and a patient participation group (PPG).
• Staff worked well together as a team and all felt supported to carry out their roles.
• There was a focus on learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Review the practice's storage of historic paper medical records to ensure they are stored safely.
• Review the security of printer prescription pads in the practice to ensure they are safe at all times.
• Review the system for reviewing incidents and significant events to include identification and recording of themes and trends.
• Review the system for implementation of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.
• Implement an audit programme/plan that is based on national, local and practice priorities.
• Review the medical equipment inventory to ensure all equipment (including GPs own) is serviced/calibrated as required.
• Review the system for documenting staff’s immune status to Hepatitis B infection.
• Review meetings structures to ensure all meetings are documented and notes of the meetings are disseminated.