Sunniside Surgery Also known as Sunniside Medical Practice

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

We looked for evidence that staff involved people in decisions about their care and treatment and provided them advice and support. Staff regularly reviewed people’s care and worked with other services to achieve this.

At our last assessment, we rated this key question as good. At this assessment, the rating remained the same.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

Feedback from people using the service was positive. People felt involved in any assessment of their needs and felt confident that staff understood their individual and cultural needs.

Clinical staff used templates when conducting care reviews to support the review of people’s wider health and wellbeing. The provider had effective systems to identify people with previously undiagnosed conditions.

Reception staff were aware of the needs of the local community. They used digital flags within the care records system to highlight any specific individual needs, such as the requirement for longer appointments, an early or late appointment or for a translator to be present.

Child immunisations were at 100% for children aged 5 years and 1 year with the data for 2 year olds at 94%; well above the 90% minimum vaccination rate recommended by the World Health Organisation.

Staff could refer people with social needs, such as those experiencing social isolation or housing difficulties, to a social prescriber. There have been 16 referrals to the social prescribers in the past 6 months, so averaging fewer than 3 per month, across a patient population of approximately 3,900. Social prescribing is a key component of Universal Personalised Care. It is an approach that connects people to activities, groups, and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing.

The service planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

The majority of feedback from people using the service was very positive, including the National GP Patient Survey where results were consistently above and, in some cases, well above the national average. Feedback from NHS Friends and Family Test showed patients felt involved in the assessment of their needs and staff understood their individual and cultural needs.

Systems were in place to ensure staff were up to date with evidence-based guidance and legislation. Clinical records we saw demonstrated care was provided in line with current guidance.

The practice provided us with a range of audits they had undertaken to enhance care. These included annual cyclical audits, which help staff review and improve how certain treatments and health checks are managed, as well as ongoing audits focused on the safe monitoring of medicines that carry higher risks. Examples of these included audits of kidney functioning and diabetes to ensure they were being monitored and managed effectively.

The service worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services.

Staff had access to the information they needed to appropriately assess, plan, and deliver people’s care, treatment, and support. The practice worked with other services to ensure continuity of care, including where clinical tasks were delegated to other services.

We spoke with the neurological care home aligned to the practice, who reported consistently high levels of support from practice staff for their own team, patients, and families. The visiting GP was routinely accompanied by the community nurse on a weekly basis and a pharmacist on a monthly basis ensuring a coordinated and integrated approach to patient care.

We saw examples of recent multi-disciplinary team meetings (MDT) where for example, safeguarding and palliative care were discussed.

The service supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control. The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

Staff focussed on identifying risks to patients’ health, including those in the last 12 months of their lives, patients at risk of developing a long-term condition and those with caring responsibilities. Staff supported national priorities and initiatives to improve population health, including stopping smoking and tackling obesity. In the last 12 months the practice had provided 17 patients with smoking cessation support.

Staff were able to refer people with social needs, such as those experiencing social isolation or housing difficulties, to one of two social prescribers who work for the primary care network.

The practice were proud to be an Armed Forces accredited practice, to support serving and veteran patients in the area.

The service routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

The practice met national targets for cervical screening of 24-49 year olds at 81.3% just above the 80% target. However, they were slightly below the target of 80% for women aged 50 to 64 years at 78.8%. Childhood immunisations for children were consistently above the 90% minimum vaccination rate recommended by the World Health Organisation.

From the clinical notes we reviewed, we found that people who used the service experienced positive outcomes as set out in legislation, standards, and evidence-based clinical guidance.

We saw there were 29 patients with a learning disability currently registered with the practice. Staff had completed 21 annual learning disability reviews which was 73% of all patients, 7 had appointments booked and 1 patient had declined up to the end of the 12 month period to 31 March 2026. A designated administrator has been responsible for coordinating appointments with patients or their carers. This approach has led to improved outcomes, as the administrator had developed an understanding of individual needs and the necessary adjustments to encourage attendance.

The service told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

Staff understood and applied legislation relating to consent. Capacity and consent weas clearly recorded. Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were appropriate and were made in line with relevant legislation.

The practice had a chaperone policy in place and patients were offered a chaperone when carrying out examinations. Staff who carried out chaperone duties were trained for the role and had received a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.