Archived: Lynton Health Centre

Updated 16 September 2022

Lynton Health Centre is located in Lynton at:

Burville Street

Lynton

EX35 6HA

Tel: 01598 753226

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures. These are delivered from Lynton Health Centre.

The practice is situated within the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)/Integrated Care Systems (ICS) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a population of about 2495 people. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices in the North Devon Coastal Primary Care Network.

Information published by Public Health England shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the fourth lowest decile (four 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 98.2% White and 0.4% Mixed.

The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages.

There is a team of three salaried GPs (two males and a female), of which one GP is the Clinical Lead and Registered Manager with CQC. The practice has an integrated nursing team that delivered practice, community and minor injuries nursing. The GPs are supported at the practice by a team of patient services staff. The practice manager is based at the health centre to provide managerial oversight.

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, telephone consultations and advance appointments. Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered an appointment.

The practice has opted out of providing out-of-hours services to their own patients. Patients can access a local out-of-hours GP services via NHS 111.

Updated 16 September 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Lynton Health Centre on 14 July 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Lynton Health Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection to review the standard of care since the takeover of the new provider Symphony Healthcare Services Ltd.

We looked at all five key domains: Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well Led.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• A short site visit

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected.
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services.
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

• Patient feedback was positive about the change of provider, seeing this as an important development to safeguard the future of the services in Lynton and Lynmouth.
• The practice was able to demonstrate that they had continued to learn and innovate through the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a commitment to engage with other providers and educational institutions to highlight and share best practice.
• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• The practice adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way and closer to home.
• The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services