South Wight Medical Practice

Updated 24 January 2017

South Wight Medical Practice is situated in a largely rural area of the Isle of Wight. The practice has approximately 5700 patients on its register, this number increases during the summer months when the tourist season is at its height.

The practice has significantly higher numbers of patients who are aged 55 to 85 years and older when compared the England average. There are lower numbers of patients aged 0 to 44 years when compared with the England average.

South Wight Medical Practice has four GP partners, three of whom are male and one who is female; one registrar, a doctor who is training to be a GP; five practice nurses one of whom is training to be an advance nurse practitioner and one health care assistant. The clinical team are supported by a practice manager; two senior medical receptionists/secretaries; five receptionists; one audit information clerk; one accounts clerk; and one administrator. The practice is also a training practice for doctors who want to become GPs.

The practice is a dispensing practice; the dispensary is staffed by a dispensary supervisor and six dispensing staff.

The Practice is open between 8.30am and 6.30pm, Mondays to Fridays.  Appointments were available at the Brighstone Surgery on Monday to Fridays between 9am-1pm, and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 2.30pm-6pm.  When Brighstone Surgery was closed, other sites were open each afternoon and patients could be seen at the branch locations.

When the practice is closed out of hours, patients are directed to the out of hour’s service provided by the Isle of Wight Out of Hours Service via the 111 telephone number.

South Wight Medical Practice is situated at The Surgery, New Road, Brighstone, Isle of Wight PO30 4BB.

Branch surgeries are situated at: The Surgery, Yarborough Close, Godshill, Isle of Wight. PO383HS and The Surgery, Blackgang Road, Niton, Isle of Wight PO38 2BN. Staff work across all three sites. During this visit we did not visit the branch surgeries.

Updated 24 January 2017

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out a focused inspection of South Wight Medical Practice on 14 December 2016 to check that action had been taken since our previous inspection in March 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

At our previous inspection, the practice was rated good for Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well Led services and was rated as good overall. However, the practice was rated as requires improvement in the Safe domain due to breaches of regulations relating to the safe delivery of services.

This was because:

• A legionella risk assessment had not been carried out.
• The practice did not handle blank prescription forms in accordance with national guidance.

We inspected the practice on 14 December 2016 to confirm that they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to those requirements. You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection of South Wight Medical Practice on our website at www.cqc.org.uk

Our key findings for this inspection were as follows:

• The practice had completed a Legionella risk assessment and had completed the requirements necessary to reduce risk of infection.
• The practice had updated their policy and protocol in relation to blank prescription forms and handled them in accordance with national guidance.

The practice is now rated good for Safe services.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 20 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people with long-term conditions. Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease  management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority. Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed. All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. For those people with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 20 August 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 living in disadvantaged circumstances and who were at risk, for example, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations. Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. We saw good examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 20 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in 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, and offered home visits and rapid access appointments for those with enhanced needs. A healthcare assistant is employed to identify unmet health needs in the over 75 year age group and all these patients have a named GP. The dispensary provided medicines in monitored dosage packs (blister packs) or in containers which could be easily opened. Arrangements were in place to deliver medicines to patients’ homes if needed.

Updated 20 August 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 online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group. A full range of contraception and women’s’ health services were offered by the practice. Students who returned home to the island during breaks from studying were able to register as temporary patients, and could be seen immediately if needed for treatment.

Updated 20 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). 96.3% of people experiencing poor mental health had an agreed care plan in their records and 95.12% of patients living with dementia had received an annual physical health check. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia. It carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. It had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency (A&E) where they may have been experiencing poor mental health. Staff had received training on how to care for people with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 20 August 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 travellers and those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability. It offered longer appointments for people with a learning disability.

The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of vulnerable people. It had told vulnerable patients 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 normal working hours and out of hours.