Dalston Medical Group

Updated 10 July 2018

Dalston Medical Group provides care and treatment to around 5,112 patients of all ages from the Dalston, Burgh by the Sands, Kirkbampton East, Cotehill South, Highbridge West and Micklethwaite areas of Carlisle. The practice is part of North Cumbria clinical commissioning group (CCG) and operates on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice.

The practice provides services from the following address, which we visited during this inspection:

• The Surgery, Townhead Road, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA5 7PZ

The surgery is located in a two storey building which incorporates the practice dispensary and also provides accommodation for the district nursing team who are located on the upper floor. All patient areas and consultation rooms are on the ground floor. There is reasonably good access and facilities for patients with disabilities although the practice does not have automatic entrance doors. A small on-site car park is available.

Patients can book appointments in person, on-line or by telephone. Opening hours are as follows:

• Monday, Wednesday and Friday – 7.30am to 6.30pm
• Tuesday and Thursday - 8am to 6.30pm

The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out of hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Cumbria Health on Call Ltd (CHoC).

The practice has:

• Two GP partners (one male and one female)
• One salaried GP (male)
• Two practice nurses (female)
• Two healthcare assistants (female)
• 17 non-clinical staff members including a practice manager, reception supervisor, medicines manager, dispensary manager, receptionists, administrators, secretary and dispensers

The practice is a teaching practice involved in the teaching of foundation doctors and medical students. It is also a dispensing practice and dispenses medicines to approximately 4,000 of their registered patients.

The average life expectancy for the male practice population is 80 (CCG and national average 79) and for the female population 84 (CCG and national average 83). 22% of the practices’ patient population are in the over 65 age group.

At 52.1%, the percentage of the practice population reported as having a long standing health condition was lower than the CCG average of 58% and national average of 53.7%. Generally a higher percentage of patients with a long standing health condition can lead to an increased demand for GP services.

At 60.5% the percentage of the practice population recorded as being in paid work or full time education was higher than the CCG average of 59.4% and national average of 61.9%. The practice area is in the seventh most deprived decile. Deprivation levels affecting children and adults were lower than local and national averages.

Updated 10 July 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. Previous inspection May 2015 - Good

The key questions 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 comprehensive inspection at Dalston Medical Group on 22 May 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had systems to keep patients safe and safeguarded from abuse.
• 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 they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. They took account of patient needs and preferences.
• Patients were able to access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
• There was a focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice proactively used performance information to drive improvement.

However, there are areas where the provider should make improvements:

• The provider should be more proactive in their identification and support of carers
• They should consider having a documented business plan
• They should improve current processes so that learning and trends and themes arising from significant events and incidents are shared with all staff at regular minuted meetings as a standard agenda item
• They should continue in their efforts to establish a patient participation group (PPG)

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

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018

Updated 10 July 2018