Background to this inspection
Updated
3 January 2019
Doctors Quayle, Rajagopal, Payne and Fox provides care and treatment to approximately 5,906 patients of all ages, based on a Primary Medical Services (PMS) contract. The practice is part of NHS Northumberland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and covers the Seghill area of Cramlington in Northumberland. We visited the following location as part of the inspection:
- Netherfield House, Seghill, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 7EF.
Information taken from Public Health England placed the area in which the practice is in the fifth less deprived decile. This shows the practice serves an area where deprivation is comparable with the England average. In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have a greater need for health services. The practice has fewer patients under 18 years of age, and more patients over 65 years of age, than the England averages. The percentages of people with a long-standing health condition, and patients with caring responsibilities, is above the England average. National data showed that 1.1% of the population are from non-white ethnic groups.
Doctors Quayle, Rajagopal, Payne and Fox is located in a purpose built, two-storey building which provides patients who have mobility needs with access to ground floor treatment and consultation rooms. The practice team consists of: four GPs (two male and two female); a GP retainer (female); three practice nurses (female); a healthcare assistant (female); a practice manager and an assistant practice manager; a team of administrative and reception staff. The practice currently provides training for 3rd and 5th year medical students.
When the practice is closed, a message on the telephone answering system redirects patients to out-of-hours or emergency services as appropriate. The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out of hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Vocare Limited, known locally as Northern Doctors Urgent Care Limited.
Updated
3 January 2019
This practice is rated as good overall. (Previous rated, comprehensive inspection – 1 July 2015 – rating – 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 Doctors Quayle, Rajagopal, Payne and Fox on 17 October and 08 November 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 and treatment they provided. They ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
- The service was very patient focussed and staff were committed to the delivery of high standards of care. This was supported by the outcome of the 2018 national GP Patient Survey, in which the practice performed higher than most of the local clinical commissioning group averages and all the national averages.
- Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
- Patients could access care and treatment from the practice within an acceptable timescale for their needs.
- The provider’s strategies and supporting action plans for improving the care and treatment they provided were challenging and innovative.
- Effective governance arrangements were in place.
- There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation. The practice actively used performance information to drive improvement.
The areas where the provider should make improvements are:
- In line with national guidance, maintain appropriate records of the distribution of pre-printed prescription form stock within the practice.
- Review the practice’s overall risk health and safety assessment, to make sure it covers all potential areas of risk and how they should be managed, including the reasons for not stocking suggested emergency medicines.
- Introduce a planned programme of clinical audit.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice
People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia)
Updated
3 January 2019