Atherstone Surgery

Updated 2 March 2018

• The practice name is Atherstone Surgery.

• Located in north-east Atherstone at 1 Ratcliffe Rd, Atherstone, Warwickshire, CV9 1EU

• Telephone number: 01827 713664. www.atherstonesurgery.co.uk

• The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS England. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities.

• At the time of our inspection, 15,924 patients were registered at the practice.

• The practice building is open from 8am to 5.30pm on Mondays to Fridays with appointments available throughout those times. Telephone lines are open until 5.45pm then divert to an on-call GP until 6.30pm.

• An open surgery is held on Monday and Friday mornings.

• When the practice is closed, patients can access out of hours care provided by Care UK through NHS 111 and available at the local George Eliot Hospital.

• The practice has nine partner GPs (five male and four female), two Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP), three practice nurses and two healthcare assistants. They are supported by a practice manager, administrative and dispensary staff.

• The practice was able to offer dispensing services to those patients on the practice list who lived more than one mile from their nearest pharmacy. The building also contains a commercially operated pharmacy.

• Atherstone Surgery is a large practice located in a rural area.

Updated 2 March 2018

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

This practice is rated as Good overall.

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

As part of our inspection process, we also look at the quality of care for specific population groups. The population groups are rated as:

Older People – Good

People with long-term conditions – Good

Families, children and young people – Good

Working age people (including those recently retired and students – Good

People whose circumstances may make them vulnerable – Good

People experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia) - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Atherstone Surgery on 5 December 2017 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• Urgent same day patient appointments were available when needed. All patients we spoke with and those who completed comment cards before our inspection said they were always able to obtain same day appointments and access care when needed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care delivered in line with current guidelines. Staff had the appropriate skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Results from the national GP patient survey revealed a high level of patient satisfaction about the care given at the practice. For example, 94% of patients who responded said the last GP they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern and 98% had confidence and trust in the last GP they saw or spoke to.

• 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.

• Patients said GPs gave them enough time and treated them with dignity and respect.

• A business development plan was in place for 2015-2020. Plans included the redevelopment of the practice building and extension of the car park to best meet patient demand and ease pressure on space.

• The practice was located in an area withlarger elderly population and had identified over 1200 patients as carers (just under 8% of the practice list).

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 21 May 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. There were emergency processes in place and referrals were made for patients whose health deteriorated suddenly. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

All patients had a named GP and a structured annual review was carried out to check that their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, GPs worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 21 May 2015

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 who were at risk of harm, for example, children and young people who had a high number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances.

Appointments were available around school hours. Emergency processes were in place and referrals were made for children and pregnant women whose health deteriorated suddenly. Child immunisations were carried out and there was a recall system in place to follow up where children had not received their appropriate vaccinations.

Updated 21 May 2015

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 and had a range of enhanced services, for example, in dementia and end of life care. It was responsive to the needs of older people. The practice was also proactively screening patients over 75 years to check their fragility.

The practice offered home visits and fast access appointments for those patients with enhanced needs. GPs operated a patient list so that they got to know their patients and their health needs. Many of the patients had been with the practice for many years and had developed a trusting relationship with their GPs.

Updated 21 May 2015

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 was proactive in offering on-line appointments and repeat prescription services, as well as a full range of health promotion and screening clinics that reflected the needs of this age group.

Updated 21 May 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health. They carried out screening for patients identified at risk and advanced care planning for patients diagnosed with dementia.

Updated 21 May 2015

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. It had carried out annual health checks for patients with a learning disability and most of these patients had received a follow-up. It offered longer appointments for these patients.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It confirmed that vulnerable patients were informed about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in both normal working hours and out-of-hours.