Kingsway Medical Centre Also known as Drs. Gittens and partners

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kingsway Medical Centre on 10 March 2016. 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 an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• 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.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• 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.
• 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 and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

This means providers must be open and transparent with service users about their care and treatment, including when it goes wrong.

We saw three areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice provides an osteopathic service in the practice two days a week. This service offers patients personalised holistic treatments and fast access to care reducing the referrals to acute services. They provide a range of intervention for patients relieving symptoms and enable patients to return to work more quickly. The aim of the service was to improve timely access to care, reduce medicine costs, referrals to secondary care and GP consultation time. The service was commonly used for, lower back, neck and shoulder pain, arthritis, pelvis, sports injuries and postural problems caused by driving and pregnancy. In a 48 week period (288 hours) of clinical treatment time 214 patients received treatment. Of these patients 78% made a complete or significant improvement and for 11% there was no change and the patient was referred back to the GP. A questionnaire given to patients attending the service showed a 100% satisfaction rate with the service.

• The practice held a weekly children’s clinic led by a GP with an interest in Paediatrics. They also held monthly multidisciplinary child health monitoring meetings to discuss the management of children with health concerns. Attendance at A& E for children registered at Kingsway Medical centre is at 52 which are below the CCG average of 55. There were four children, under the age of 18 on the Unplanned Admission Register. 

• The practice had also employed a further salaried GP to ensure they were able to offer patients identified as high risk of admission a good access to care without this impacting on other services provided by the practice. We saw that the practice was below the CCG average for unplanned admissions and attendance at A&E.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice