The Mounts Medical Centre

Updated 20 December 2023

The Mounts Medical Centre is located in Northampton at:

Campbell Street

Northampton

NN1 3DS

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services, family planning, treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

The practice is situated within the Northamptonshire Integrated Care System (ICS) and delivers General Medical Services (GMS) to a patient population of about 17,000. This is part of a contract held with NHS England.

The practice is part of a wider network of GP practices known as the MMWF Primary care Network (PCN). This PCN consists of four practices working together to provide a wider range of services to the local population.

Information published by Office for Health Improvement and Disparities shows that deprivation within the practice population group is in the third lowest decile (3 of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others.

According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 79.4% White, 9% Asian, 6.9% Black, 3.7% Mixed, and 1% Other. Staff advised the ethnic mix of patients was vast, with a high number of first-generation immigrants and patients whose primary language was not English. The age distribution of the practice population closely mirrors the local and national averages, although there has been a decrease in elderly patients.

There is a team of 6 GP partners. The practice has a team of 2 advanced nurse practitioners, a nurse and 2 health care assistants. The GPs are supported at the practice by the practice manager and a team of reception/administration staff. At the time of our inspection, there had been a significant decrease in the capacity of the nursing team with 3 practice nurses leaving. A new nurse had been recruited but required training. Recruitment efforts were ongoing for clinical team expansion. In addition, the practice has access to further clinicians who have been recruited through the PCN and support onsite clinics twice a week. This includes a paramedic, 2 pharmacists, 2 pharmacy technicians and a physician’s associate.

The practice is open between 8am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday. The practice offers a range of appointment types including book on the day, telephone consultations and advance appointments. Extended access is provided locally by General Practice Alliance, the local GP Federation, where appointments are available from 6.30pm to 8.30pm Monday to Friday and between 9am and 5pm Saturdays and Sundays. Out of hours services are provided by NHS 111.

Updated 20 December 2023

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Mounts Medical Centre between 6 and 8 November 2023. Overall, the practice is rated as requires improvement.

Safe - good

Effective - requires improvement

Caring - requires improvement

Responsive - requires improvement

Well-led – good.

During the inspection process, the practice highlighted efforts they are making to improve outcomes for their population. The effect of these efforts is not (yet) reflected in verified outcomes data. As such, the ratings for this inspection have not been impacted. However, we continue to monitor the data and where we see potential changes, we will follow these up with the practice.

Why we carried out this inspection

Following our previous inspection on 16 May 2017, the practice was rated good overall and for all key questions. We carried out this inspection in line with our inspection priorities. Through our monitoring activities we identified concerns that met the threshold for carrying out an inspection.

The full reports for previous inspections can be found by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for The Mounts Medical Centre on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

How we carried out the inspection

This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing.
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system (this was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements).
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.
• A short site visit of the practice and branch site.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as requires improvement overall.

We found that:

• The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
• Where we identified gaps in systems and processes, the practice responded in a timely manner to reduce risks to patients and staff.
• The practice learned from incidents, events and complaints and ensured learning was shared amongst the staff team.
• We found the premises were well maintained, appeared visibly clean and tidy and there were appropriate infection prevention and control arrangements in place.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. Where areas of improvement were identified, the practice took timely action to monitor the effectiveness of patient care.
• Staff were aware of the diverse and complex needs and demands of their patient population. They dealt with patients with kindness and respect and supported them to overcome barriers to receiving care where possible.
• The way the practice was led and managed, promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
• Leaders took a proactive approach to recruitment of staff despite the challenges they faced with staff retention.
• The culture of the practice drove the delivery and improvement of high-quality, person-centred care, with staff sharing a commitment to supporting a challenging and vulnerable patient population.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Complete work in progress to maintain records of staff vaccination and immunity status.
• Improve the uptake of childhood immunisations and cervical cancer screening.
• Continue to embed improved systems for recording creatinine clearance levels and reviewing patients prescribed medicines to support thyroid function.
• Implement repeat cycle audits to monitor improvement and further improve quality.
• Continue to improve outcomes for patient satisfaction results and monitor the impact of changes that have been implemented.
• Actively monitor and improve patient access to the practice.
• Take steps to promote and recruit patients to participate in the Patient Participation Group.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Health Care