Background to this inspection
Updated
10 January 2019
The Sidings Medical Practice provides primary medical care for approximately 18,130 patients from a single surgery at Sleaford Road, Boston, PE21 8EG
The service is provided under a General Medical Services contract with Lincolnshire East Clinical Commissioning Group.
The practice is registered to provide the regulated activities of: Diagnostic and screening procedures; Family planning; Maternity and midwifery services; Surgical procedures; Treatment of disease, disorder or injury;
from a single location at The Sidings Medical Practice, Sleaford Road, Boston, PE21 8EG
The practice was formally known as Stuart House Surgery but changed its name to The Sidings Medical Practice on 1 July 2018 when Westside Surgery, which was in the same building, merged with Stuart House.
The practice had a higher number of younger people on the patient list than the CCG average. 19.4 % of patients were aged 65 or over compared to the national average of 17.1%.
The practice list contains significant numbers of patients whose first languages are Polish, Lithuanian and Russian and who are migrant workers employed in the agricultural, horticultural and food processing industry in the Boston area.
Care and treatment is provided by two male GPs and two female GPs and locum GPs providing 38 GP sessions per week. (whole time equivalent 4.75) Care is also provided by nurse practitioners (3.68 WTE) practice nurses (3.57 WTE) and phlebotomist/healthcare assistants (3.39 WTE) The practice also employs a clinical pharmacist. They are supported by a team of receptionists and administration staff.
The surgery is open between 8am and 6.30pm Monday and Friday.
The practice hosts the GP extended hours hub for the Boston area which is contracted by the CCG to another healthcare provider. The extended hours service is open from 6.30pm to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 5.30pm at weekends and bank holidays.
When the surgery is closed GP out-of- hours services are provided by provided by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust is contacted via NHS111.
Updated
10 January 2019
This practice is rated as Requires Improvement overall.
The key questions are rated as:
Are services safe? – Requires improvement.
Are services effective? – Good
Are services caring? – Good
Are services responsive? – Good
Are services well-led? – Requires improvement
This inspection was a comprehensive announced inspection carried out on 12 September 2018.
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.
- There was a process in place to help protect vulnerable patients from abuse.
- 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 involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Some patients had reported they experienced difficulty accessing the surgery by telephone to make appointments and that routine pre-bookable appointments were sometimes difficult to obtain.
- The practice website did not provide any information on extended hours appointments despite the practice hosting the Boston extended hours hub.
- There was no effective system in place to manage uncollected prescriptions.
- The systems for managing blank prescription forms did not ensure their security.
- Not all staff had received training in dealing with cases of suspected SEPSIS
- There was no oversight or monitoring of the prescribing practice of non-medical prescribers.
- It was acknowledged that the merger of the two practices had been complex and that the administration processes were not fully integrated.
- Whilst there was a strong and dedicated practice team we found that integration across the two former practice teams was variable.
The areas where the provider must make improvements are:
- Establish effective systems and processes to ensure good governance in accordance with the fundamental standards of care
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- Continue to review and assess the availability of appointments and ease of telephone access to the practice.
- Review the practice website to ensure that it contains up to date information, including information on extended hours appointments.
.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice