Background to this inspection
Updated
17 August 2018
The Helston Medical Centre provides general medical services to about 13,800 patients living in Helston and surrounding villages. There is also a branch surgery in Porthleven and the practice manages the practice in St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly. The practices population is in the sixth decile for deprivation. The lower the decile the more deprived an area is compared to the national average. The practice population ethnic profile is predominantly White British. There is a practice age distribution of male and female patients’ broadly equivalent to national average figures. The average male life expectancy for the practice area is 80 years which is slightly above the national average of 79 years; female life expectancy is 84 years which is also the slightly above the national average of 83 years.
There is a team of seven GP partners, one female and five male, and the practice manager as well as eight salaried GPs. The team are supported by a deputy practice manager, a nurse practitioner, an emergency care practitioner, five practice nurses, three healthcare assistants and additional administration staff.
The practice has dispensing facilities for patients who lived more than a mile away from a dispensing chemist. The dispensary is open during surgery times.
Patients using the practice also have access to community nurses, mental health teams and health visitors and other health care professionals who visit the practice on a regular basis.
The Helston and Porthleven practices are open between 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. The reception is open from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday. There is an urgent call handling service between 8am to 8.30am and 6pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments at the Helston practice are available between 8.30am and 11.30am and then 2.30pm to 6pm. At Porthleven appointments are between 8.30am and 12.30pm and then 2.30pm and 5.30pm. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations, E consult and advance appointments.
Outside of these times patients are directed to contact the out of hour’s service by using the NHS 111 number.
The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England.
The Helston Medical Centre provides regulated activities from Helston Medical Centre, Trelawney Road, Helston, Cornwall TR13 8AU and Porthleven Surgery, Sunset Gardens, Porthleven, Cornwall, TR13 9BT. We visited both locations at this inspection.
Updated
17 August 2018
This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating February 2015 – Good)
The key questions at this inspection 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 inspection at Helston Medical Centre on 29 June 2018 as part of our inspection programme.
At this inspection we found:
- 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 it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. Staff said the practice was a good place to work and added that the leadership team were supportive and encouraged career development and learning to help improve patient safety.
We saw areas of outstanding practice:
The practice had recognised the needs of the population and the difficulty for some patients accessing healthcare and offered additional support and services to reduce the need for long journeys to secondary care and improve access to locally based services for example:
- The practice gained funding for a Community Co-ordinator who proactively reached out to the most vulnerable of their population and direct them towards the support available locally. This also forms part of a wider programme, including training a broader group of the community to recognise where help is needed and signpost to the most appropriate resources.
- The practice secured funding for a community hub at the local community hospital, with work due to start later this summer. This will provide a state-of-the-art resource that helps to de-medicalise problems at the front door of primary care, and to allow them to embed social prescribing into General Practice.
- As the lead practice in their locality they have recognised that isolation and loneliness can have a significant impact upon the health of their population so they have driven a community mapping exercise with Age UK, that gives a resource of all the clubs, groups, carers, volunteers and charities based locally to help improve patients wellbeing.
- The practice was the only practice in the area, working to be involved with the “Discharge to Assess” (D2A) programme. D2A is about funding and supporting people to leave hospital, when safe and appropriate to do so, and continuing their care and assessment out of hospital. They can then be assessed for their longer-term needs in the right place allowing patients to be cared for in an environment appropriate for their needs.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice
Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.