St Elizabeth's Medical Centre

Updated 10 February 2017

St Elizabeth’s Medical Centre is a GP practice, which provides primary medical services to approximately 5,200 patients living in the Netherhall area north-east of the city. All patient facilities are accessible. Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (LCCCG) commission the practice’s

services.

The practice has two GP partners (male) and a long-term locum GP (female). The nursing team consists of a practice nurse and a long-term locum nurse. They are supported by a Practice Manager, an IT Manager and a team of reception and administrative staff.

The practice has a branch site at Evington Surgery, 10 The Common, Evington, Leicester.

The practice is open between 8am and 1pm and 2pm and 6.30pm Monday to Friday, however the practice closes at 1pm on a Thursday. The branch surgery at Evington Surgery is open from 8am to 10.30am and 4pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday, however opens in the morning only on a Thursday. Appointments are from 9am to 11.30am every morning and 4pm to 6pm. In addition to pre-bookable appointments that can be booked up to 12 weeks in advance, urgent appointments are also available for people that need them.

The practice does not have a website, however there were plans in place and we could see that the practice were taking steps to design a website.

Patients can access out of hours support from the national advice service NHS 111. The practice also provides details for the nearest urgent care centres, as well as accident and emergency departments.

Updated 10 February 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at St Elizabeth’s Medical Centre on 21 July 2016. The overall rating for the practice was good and the rating for the safe domain was requires improvement. The full comprehensive report on the July 2016 inspection can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for St Elizabeth’s Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

This inspection was a desk-based review carried out on 31 January 2017 to confirm that the practice had carried out their plan to meet the legal requirements in relation to the breaches in regulations that we identified in our previous inspection on 21 July 2016. This report covers our findings in relation to those requirements and also additional improvements made since our last inspection.

Overall the practice is now rated as good.

Our key findings were as follows:

• An electrical safety installation check was carried out on 18 August 2016.

• A disaster handling and business continuity plan had been implemented to guide staff in the event of a major incident.

• The practice had carried out risk assessments as they did not have a defibrillator or oxygen available on the premises.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 19 September 2016

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

• Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management.

• Patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority and reviewed all unplanned admissions and readmissions on a weekly basis.

• 75% of those diagnosed with diabetes had a blood test to assess diabetes control (looking at how blood sugar levels have been averaging over recent weeks) compared to the national average of 78%.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

• All these patients had a named GP and were offered 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.

Updated 19 September 2016

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

• There were systems in place 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 A&E attendances.

• Immunisation rates were comparable to local averages for all standard childhood immunisations.

• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 75%, which was above the CCG average of 69% and comparable to the national average of 74%.

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

• We saw positive examples of joint working with midwives and health visitors.

Updated 19 September 2016

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

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

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

• High risk patients were discussed at monthly meetings with the relevant health and social care professionals.

Updated 19 September 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 offerred online services to book appointments and request repeat prescriptions. This was available through NHS Choices as the practice did not have a website.

• A full range of health promotion and screening services were offered that reflected the needs for this age group.

Updated 19 September 2016

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

• 89% of those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder or other had a comprehensive and agreed care plan in place, compared to the national average of 88%.

• 82% of patients with a diagnosis of dementia had their care reviewed in a face-to-face review, compared to the national average of 84%.

• 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 told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations and referred patients to relevant health and social care professionals.

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

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

Updated 19 September 2016

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.

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

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

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

• Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children and were aware of their responsibilities regarding safeguarding concerns.