Background to this inspection
Updated
16 May 2018
Marple Medical Practice, 50 Stockport Road, Marple, Stockport, Cheshire, SK6 6AB is part of the NHS Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Services are provided under a general medical service (GMS) contract with NHS England. The practice has 7,204 patients on their register (3,522 male, 3,611 female). The practice is located on a busy road and has no dedicated parking facilities; some parking is available on nearby residential streets. The practice is housed in an older building that has some restrictions for people with mobility problems. The practice has made some adjustments to enable better access and has procedures in place to support people with disabilities.
Information published by Public Health England rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as eight on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest. Male and female life expectancy in the practice geographical area are 79 years for males and 82 years for females both of which are similar or above the England average of 79 years and 83 years respectively. The patient numbers in the older age group were 10% higher than the England average. For example 26.8% of the patient population was over 65 and 12.49% were over 75. The average England value was 17.2% and 7.7%
respectively. The practice population had slightly fewer children and young people registered with it than the England average 17% compared with 21% nationally.
The practice's main opening times are Monday to Friday 8am to 6.30pm, with additional appointments available between 7am and 8am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and one Saturday every month from 9am to 10.30am for routine pre-booked appointments only. Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the out of hour's service provided by Mastercall.
The practice has four GP partners three male and one female. The practice employs two salaried GPs, a practice manager, an assistant practice manager, an advanced nurse practitioner, two practice nurses, two health care assistants, two pharmacists, receptionists and secretaries and a caretaker. The practice also supports two full time trainee GPs and undergraduate medical students.
The practice provides online patient access that allows patients to book appointments, order prescriptions and review some of their personal records.
Updated
16 May 2018
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous inspection 7 October 2015 – Good)
The key questions 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 Marple Medical Centre on 10 April 2018. This inspection was carried out under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
At this inspection we found:
- The practice had clear 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 routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were usually able to access care when they needed it.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning, engagement and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
- Results from the national GP patient survey showed patients were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
- There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
We saw two areas of outstanding practice:
- The practice provided staff with additional external training on how to deliver care to patients with learning disabilities and reserved weekly appointments at a pre-agreed time for consultations for those patients and their carers.
- The practice manager publicised their direct dial telephone number and email address to all patients, should they require resolution to an issue.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Produce a fire safety policy to describe how fire safety is managed in the practice and increase the number of fire drills.
- Reception/administration staff appraisals should be completed regularly.
- All medical equipment should be regularly maintained within date and calibrated appropriately.
- Consider an annual review of serious events and incidents.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice