Archived: Kingsway Surgery Also known as Dr Shaw & Dr McDonagh

Updated 7 November 2016

Kingsway Surgery is based in a residential area of Crosby. There were 4904 patients on the practice register at the time of our inspection.

The practice is managed by two GP partners (one male, one female) and one salaried GP. There are two practice nurses and one healthcare assistant. The practice was in the process of recruiting another nurse. Members of clinical staff are supported by a practice manager, reception and administration staff.

The practice is open 8am to 6.30pm every weekday with the exception of Thursdays when the practice is open until 7.30pm. The practice is closed one Wednesday afternoon per month for staff training. Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the practice were their call is diverted to the out of hours provider, Go to doc.

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract and has enhanced services contracts which include childhood vaccinations. 

Updated 7 November 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Kingsway Surgery on 7 October 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good but requires improvement for providing safe services.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• The practice was in a converted residential property and the provider was aware of the limitations of the premises. Although clinical areas were reasonably acceptable, work could be done to improve the premises in terms of basic décor and decluttering of the premises to make the environment safer.
• There were some systems in place to mitigate safety risks including analysing significant events and safeguarding. The practice had a defibrillator for treatment of some medical emergencies but no oxygen. This was purchased after our inspection.

• The practice was aware of and had systems in place to ensure compliance with the requirements of the duty of candour. (The duty of candour is a set of specific legal requirements that providers of services must follow when things go wrong with care and treatment).
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered in line with current legislation.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available. The practice sought patient views about improvements that could be made to the service; including having a patient participation group (PPG) and acted, where possible, on feedback.
• Staff worked well together as a team and all felt supported to carry out their roles.

There were examples of outstanding practice. These included:

• The practice manager had audited the attendances of patients experiencing poor mental health and with learning disabilities. As the practice did not have the benefit of external agencies regularly attending, the practice and the patient participation group set up an informal group to support patients.
• The practice recognised preferences of elderly patients, not wanting to attend later in the day, especially in the winter months when it is darker. The practice had spread the appointments across the day making appointments accessible in the early afternoons.

• The practice manager had met with all staff to discuss their career progression in the form of a five year strategic plan.

However, the provider should:

• Address the backlog of letters from other clinics to be scanned on to patient records and ensure there is one system in place that all staff work from.

• Increase the monitoring of the cleanliness and safety of the premises and remove excess clutter from non-patient areas within the building to reduce fire hazards and promote a better working environment for staff.

• Monitor complaints in order to ensure patients are given a timely response, and where there are foreseeable delays, issue a holding letter to the patient to explain the reason for the delay.

• Carry out performance appraisals for the healthcare assistant even though they receive these from their other employer.

• Have an overview of all training completed by clinicians to ensure everyone is up to date with their mandatory training.

• Periodically review all complaints and significant events with the staff team to identify any trends.

• Monitor the storage of blank prescription pads used for home visits.

• Consider holding regular staff meetings for the whole team.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 7 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people with long term conditions.  The practice had registers in place for several long term conditions including diabetes and asthma. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All these patients had a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. 

Updated 7 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for families, children and young people. The practice regularly liaised with health visitors to review vulnerable children and new mothers. 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. 

Updated 7 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population and offered home visits and care home visits. The practice recognised the needs of the elderly not wanting to attend later in the day, especially in the winter months when it is darker. The practice had spread the appointments across the day making appointments accessible in the early afternoons.

The practice participated in meetings with other healthcare professionals to discuss any concerns. There was a named GP for the over 75s and the practice participated in a local ‘frailty’ scheme to ensure patients received a full assessment of their health and social needs.  

Updated 7 November 2016

The practice is as rated good for providing services for working age people. The needs of this population group had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible. There were online systems available to allow patients to make appointments and the practice offered appointments from 8am on some days and had extended hours opening on Thursday evening until 7.30pm.

Updated 7 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people experiencing poor mental health. Patients experiencing poor mental health received an invitation for an annual physical health check. Those that did not attend had alerts placed on their records so they could be reviewed opportunistically. The practice manager had audited the attendances of patients experiencing poor mental health. As the practice did not have the benefit of external agencies regularly attending, the practice and the patient participation group set up an informal support group to encourage patients to attend. One of the GP partners was a dementia care home lead GP.

Updated 7 November 2016

The practice is rated as good for providing services for people whose circumstances 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 and longer appointments were available for people with a learning disability.