City Health Practice Limited - Southcoates Medical Centre

Updated 2 June 2017

Southcoates Medical Centre (City Health Practice Ltd), 225 New Bridge Road, Hull, North Humberside, HU9 2LR is located in the City of Hull. The premise is owned by City Venture (an estates management company) and a lease agreement is in place. The premises is a two storey premise, however patients only have access to the ground floor. There is small free car park to the rear of the practice and plenty of on-road parking.

CHP Ltd is a new company incorporating Southcoates Medical Centre and Marfleet Lane Surgery.  CHP Ltd has a Service Level Agreement with CHCP CIC a large local community partnership to provide assistance with corporate back office and organisational functions to support the new company.

The practice provides services under a General Medical Services (GMS) contract providing services to the practice population of 3,000 covering patients of all ages.

The practice scored one on the deprivation measurement scale, the deprivation scale goes from one to ten, with one being the most deprived. People living in more deprived areas tend to have a greater need for health services.

The practice has one male GP and one female part time GP. There is one female practice nurse and one female health care assistant. There is a practice manager and a small team of administration and reception staff.

The practice is open 8 am - 6.30 pm Monday to Friday. Access to appointments with a GP are available Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday all day and Thursday mornings.  In addition extended access is provided on Tuesday evenings till 7.30 pm.  Arrangements are in place for medical cover with its sister practice Marfleet Lane Surgery on Thursday afternoon.

When the practice is closed patients are advised to contact the Out of Hours service (111) provided by City Health Care Partnership CIC.

Updated 2 June 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Southcoates Medical Centre on 4 May 2017. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and a system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• The practice had clearly defined and embedded systems to minimise risks to patient safety.
• Staff were aware of current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills and knowledge to deliver effective care and treatment.
• 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.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients we spoke with said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• 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 proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of the requirements of the duty of candour. Examples we reviewed showed the practice complied with these requirements.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

A deep clean of all carpeted areas within the premise should take place.

Continue to carry out the necessary renovations/refurbishments as necessary and in line with their strategy.

Action should continue to be taken to develop a patient participation group (PPG).

A number of policies and procedures should be reviewed and updated.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 2 June 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions.

• The practice nurse and GPs had lead roles in long-term disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.

• The percentage of patients with diabetes, on the register, in whom the last IFCC-HbA1c was 64 mmol/mol or less in the preceding 12 months was 90%, which was higher than the local and national averages.

• The percentage of patients with diabetes, on the register, in whom the last blood pressure reading (measured in the preceding 12 months) was 140/80 mmHg or less was 80% which was comparable to the local and national averages.

• The practice followed up on patients with long-term conditions discharged from hospital and ensured that their care plans were updated to reflect any additional needs.

• There were emergency processes for patients with long-term conditions who experienced a sudden deterioration in health.

• All these patients had a named GP and there was a system to recall patients for a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. Practice staff had developed a robust recall system for patient, this included the initial letter to the patient followed by a text message.

• The practice offered a ‘telehealth’ service.This enabled the practice to have health monitoring of patients via their mobile phones.

• Due to the high prevalence of patient with long term conditions who continued to smoke the practice had introduce the provision of a specialised stop smoking advisor.

Updated 2 June 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young people.

• From the sample of documented examples we reviewed we found there were systems to identify and follow up children living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances.

• Immunisation rates were high for all standard childhood immunisations. 100% of pre-school children had received their booster vaccinations.

• Patients told us, on the day of inspection, that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals.

• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

• The practice had a named health visitor who visited the practice at least weekly. This ensured that communication and concerns for children were shared and actioned as necessary.

• The practice had emergency processes for acutely ill children and young people and for acute pregnancy complications.

Updated 2 June 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people.

• Staff were able to recognise the signs of abuse in older patients and knew how to escalate any concerns.

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older patients in its population.

• The practice was responsive to the needs of older patients, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

• The practice identified at an early stage older patients who may need palliative care as they were approaching the end of life. It involved older patients in planning and making decisions about their care, including their end of life care.

• The practice followed up on older patients discharged from hospital and ensured that their care plans were updated to reflect any extra needs.

• Where older patients had complex needs, the practice shared summary care records with local care services.

• Older patients were provided with health promotional advice and support to help them to maintain their health and independence for as long as possible.

Updated 2 June 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of working age people (including those recently retired and students).

• The needs of these populations had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care, for example, extended opening hours.

• The practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

• The practice had implemented eConsult (an electronic consulting service) to support healthcare. This provided a facility whereby patients were able to consult online with their own GP with a response no later than the end of the next working day.

Updated 2 June 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

• The practice carried out advance care planning for patients living with dementia.

• Patients at risk of dementia were identified and offered an assessment and ad hoc screening had been introduced.

• The practice had a system for monitoring repeat prescribing for patients receiving medicines for mental health needs.

• The percentage of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses who had a comprehensive care plan documented in the record, in the preceding 12 months, was 90% which was comparable to the local and national averages.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those living with dementia.

• The practice had information available for patients experiencing poor mental health about how they could access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• The practice had a system to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

• Staff interviewed had a good understanding of how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 2 June 2017

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including those with a learning disability or dementia.

• End of life care was delivered in a coordinated way which took into account the needs of those whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.

• The practice regularly worked with other health care professionals in the case management of vulnerable patients.

• The practice had information available for vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• Staff interviewed knew how to recognise signs of abuse in children, young people and adults whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. They were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours.