Archived: Dr Gordon Thomas

Updated 18 February 2016

Dr Gordon Thomas is registered with a Care Quality Commission as an individual provider based at Trentham Mews Medical Centre. The practice holds a Primary Medical Services contract with NHS England.

The practice area is one of less deprivation when compared with the local and national averages. Life expectancy and the health of people within Stoke on Trent, whilst improving, are generally worse than the national average.

At the time of our inspection the practice was caring for 3,446 patients of which a higher proportion (34.2%) than the national average (26.5%) are aged over 65.

The practice clinical staff consist of one full time male GP and a female part time GP. An all-female nursing team consists of a practice nurse and healthcare assistant. The administrative team is led by a practice manager with five members of reception/administrative staff. An Elderly Care Facilitator provides home based assessments to older patients and is employed directly by the practice on a part time basis.

The practice has opted out of providing cover to patients in the out-of-hours period. During this time services are provided by Staffordshire Doctors Urgent Care, patients access this service by calling NHS 111. The lead GP does provide out-of-hours cover to a local children’s hospice, from which patients with primary care health needs are registered as temporary residents within this practice.

The practice is open from 8:30am to 6pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 8am to 5pm on a Thursday and 8:30am to 8:15pm on a Monday. The practice reception desk closes each day from 1pm to 1:30pm, although the telephone lines remain open. During all other times the reception desk and telephone lines are always staffed. Patients can book appointments in person, by telephone or online for those who have registered for this service.

Updated 18 February 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Dr Gordon Thomas on 7 December 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good, with outstanding care in caring services and services for older people.

Our key findings were as follows:

• Feedback from patients about their care was consistently and strongly positive.

• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs. Information about how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Staff were knowledgeable, engaged and took pride in the services provided.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that 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.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment

We saw areas of outstanding practice including:

• The practice had provided holistic care reviews to over 300 patients aged 75 and over. The reviews took place in the patients’ homes and assessed the emergence of health conditions which are more common in this age group including frailty, dementia, mobility and increased social care needs. Following the assessment patients’ care was reviewed or they were referred to practice, specialist and community services. The safety of patients was also assessed and patients were assisted to obtain emergency alarm systems to alert someone if they fell or became unwell and were unable to get to the telephone.

• The practice was used as a community hub to promote engagement within the locality and beyond. Staff and patients took part in arts and community events, and volunteers provided a weekly book club service from the practice following the closure of the local library.

• The lead GP had provided primary care services to a local children’s hospice since its conception over 10 years ago. A senior member of the hospice team told us that the GP and practice had been very supportive to both the children and staff at the hospice. They also said that the families of the children were universally positive and appreciative of the involvement of the lead GP and practice and described them as most caring. As the hospice is a charity, the lead GP and staff had removed any barriers to children with life limiting conditions receiving primary care, and their services had been made available 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

There were also areas of practice where the provider should make improvements.

• Implement a consistent system for checking that monitoring for patients, who take long term medicines on a shared care basis, has been provided before the medicines are issued.

• Expand the practice held emergency medicines to include suitable medicines for patients who experience prolonged seizures and unresponsiveness due to hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar),

• Implement and manage a consistent system for reviewing the care of patients who experience short and long term poor mental health.

• Undertake a documented risk assessment for Legionella and act on any findings.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• Patients at the highest risk to hospital were identified and care plans had been implemented to meet their health and care needs.

• Emergency admissions to hospital for patients with long-term conditions were 29.4% lower than the national average.

• Performance for the diabetes related indicators was comparable with the CCG and national averages. For example, 69.3% of patients with diabetes had received a recent blood test to indicate their longer term diabetic control was below the highest accepted level, compared with the CCG average of 75.1% and national average of 77.5%.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• The practice had provided services to a local children’s hospice for over 10 years. The lead GP had been involved since the conception of the hospice and provided both in and out-of-hours GP support.

• Out of the 18 immunisations offered to babies and children up to the age of five, the practice performance was 100% for providing 16 of the immunisations and 96.8% in the remaining two immunisations.

• Families had been invited into the practice to take part in community events and we heard positive examples of children being dealt with in a sensitive and caring manner.

• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 81.3% which was higher than the CCG average of 79.9% and just below the national average of 81.8%.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

The practice had provided holistic care reviews to over 300 patients aged 75 and over. The reviews took place in the patients’ homes and assessed the emergence of health conditions which are more common in this age group including frailty, dementia, mobility and increased social care needs. Following the assessment patients’ care was reviewed or they were referred to specialist services including continence services, falls assessment teams and community services. The safety of patients was also assessed and patients were assisted to obtain emergency alarm systems to alert someone if they fell or became unwell and were unable to get to the telephone.

Vaccination rates in this age group were higher than local and national averages. Those who were housebound were visited by the practice nurse and offered the vaccine at home.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care.

• 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 offered evening appointments to benefit those of a working age.

Updated 18 February 2016

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

• 71.4% of patients with dementia had a face to face review of their condition in the last 12 months compared to the CCG average of 85.1% and national average of 84%.

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

• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

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

Updated 18 February 2016

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

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

• The practice offered annual health reviews and longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people.

• The practice informed vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.