• Doctor
  • GP practice

Archived: Lyme Regis Medical Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Uplyme Road, Lyme Regis, Dorset, DT7 3LS

Provided and run by:
VH Doctors Limited

Important: The provider of this service changed. See old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 25 October 2018

Lyme Regis Medical Centre is located in a coastal town in West Dorset. The registered provider is VH Doctors Limited which is part of the Virgin Care organisation.

Lyme Regis Medical Centre is part of NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group.

The centre provides care to approximately 4,200 patients and is contracted by NHS England to provide community services to 8,500 patients in the locality under an Alternative Provider Medical Services contract. The practice is also contracted by NHS England to provide a nurse led Minor Injuries Unit open to patients registered at the practice, patients from other practices in the locality and any visitors to the area.

The practice is registered to provide regulated activities which include treatment of disease, disorder or injury, surgical procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and diagnostic and screening procedures. The practice operates from the location;

Lyme Regis Medical Centre

Uplyme Road

Lyme Regis

Dorset

DT7 3LS

The practice population is in the ninth least deprived decile for deprivation. In a score of one to ten the lower the decile the more deprived an area is. The average life expectancy is higher than the national average; average life expectancy for male patients was 83 years old compared to the national average of 79. Average life expectancy for female patients was 85 years compared to the national average of 83.

The practice employs three GPs, two of which are female and one is male. A regular locum female GP also works at the practice. The practice also employs two nurse practitioners, four practice nurses/MIU nurses, two HCAs, three managers and additional administration and reception staff.

The practice is open between 8am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available during these times.

The practice provides a Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) service between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am until 1pm every Saturday and Sunday, and bank holidays. The MIU service was delivered by the practice nurses for all patients, including children and infants over one years old. Nurses who delivered this service had undertaken specific training and had been assessed as competent to deliver a Minor Injuries Service. Patients who were not registered at the practice could also access this service which offered ‘walk in and wait’ ‘appointments. The practice website states that the minor injuries service treats conditions such as minor burns, cuts, splinters, foreign bodies in the eye, ear or skin. People with serious injuries or major trauma are directed to Dorchester or Exeter Hospitals.

The practice also provides community nursing services.

At this inspection we only inspected the services provided by the GP practice and Minor Injuries Unit.

When the practice is closed patients are directed to out of hours services by dialling the NHS 111 service.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 25 October 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating February 2016 – Good)

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 inspection at Lyme Regis Medical Centre on 22 August 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

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 involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

  • Review systems to demonstrate mitigation of potential risks as recommended in external risk assessments.
  • Review procedures to address exception reporting for some patient outcome indicators.
  • Develop the system for managers to access staff files and immunisation status as required.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.