Redgate Medical Centre

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 assessed all quality statements in the effective key question.

Our rating for this key question remains good. Staff involved people in decisions about their care and treatment and provided them with advice and support. Staff regularly reviewed people’s care and worked with other services to meet their needs.

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.

Staff demonstrated an understanding of the additional support some people may need when attending their appointment such as requiring a translator or a longer appointment. People felt involved in the assessment of their needs and felt confident staff understood their individual needs. People presenting with symptoms which could indicate serious illness were followed up in a timely way. We reviewed the appointment diary and saw appointments were available to book the same day for urgent appointments. Information to support and raise awareness among carers was available both on a noticeboard in the waiting area and on the service’s website. The service had a designated carers champion who maintained a register of people identified as carers and provided them with an information pack outlining the support available to them.

Our clinical searches identified 340 patients diagnosed with asthma and 12 of them had been prescribed 2 or more rescue steroids (treatment for severe asthma episodes) in the last 12 months. We reviewed 5 of these patient records and found not all of them received follow-up care after acute exacerbations in line with guidance. The service reviewed this group of patients and implemented regular searches to identify new patients meeting the criteria for follow-up.

The service had systems to ensure staff were up-to-date with evidence-based guidance and legislation. The service had regular clinical meetings where guidance and cases were discussed.We saw evidence of clinical audits being undertaken to ensure they were working in line with clinical guidelines. Staff told us they had protected time to complete continuous professional development. The service supported and encouraged staff to pursue further training in their specific areas of interest.

The service worked well across teams and services to support people. Staff appreciated their colleagues and enjoyed working as a team.Staff were able to request support from GPs and the leadership team who were visible and approachable. The clinical staff frequently discussed people care as a team to promote consistent care. Leaders and staff told us they worked closely with healthcare professionals in the locality to meet the needs of the patient population.

Feedback from partners indicated good working relationships with staff. The service worked closely with the local Primary Care Network (PCN) (a group of general practices that work together to provide integrated services to the local population) to promote healthy and active lifestyles and to provide joined-up support for vulnerable members of the community. The service worked collaboratively with their PPG to improve people’s experience. For example, the promotion of Sign Language Week by sharing sign language materials on their website, social media and presentation at waiting area so that more people could learn and feel included.

The service supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

The service identified people who may need extra support and directed them to relevant services. This included people in the last 12 months of their lives, people at risk of developing a long-term condition and those with caring responsibilities. The service held a weight-management class to empower people in maintaining a healthy weight. The service organised regular health walks which were open to all people to promote physical activity. The service ran a community gardening group held in the garden at the service to promote social connection. We observed various health promotion patient leaflets throughout the service waiting area, advising people on health and wellbeing topics. The service website contained information and links to other sources of information to support people in making healthier choices.

The service monitored people's care and treatment to ensure continuous improvement.

People with long-term conditions were offered an annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. Our clinical searches identified 144 patients with diabetes who had a HbA1c at 75mmol/mol or above (a high average blood sugar level indicates an increased risk of complications). We reviewed 5 of these patient records and found all the patients received monitoring and appropriate reviews. We looked at the potential missed diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) at stage 3-5 as part of our clinical searches and 104 patients were identified to be at risk. We sampled 5 patient records for review and found 4 of them were cases of missed diagnosis of CKD. The service followed up by checking any missed disease coding and reviewing the group of patients.

National data showed that only 1 out of the 5 indicators for childhood vaccination had achieved the 90% minimum uptake rate. The other 4 indicators ranged between 82.4-89.5%. The service was aware of the findings and had been working with the local Improving Immunisation Uptake Team to address the issue. Examples of actions taken included identifying the targeted children of missing vaccinations and sending recall invitations through various channels with a reminder message for appointment. The service also engaged with parents to address their concerns and vaccine hesitancy, increasing catch-up vaccination appointment including evening sessions and offering opportunistic vaccination when the child attended the service for other reasons. The service continued to monitor the vaccination uptake monthly. Latest national data showed that only 61.6% of eligible people aged 25-49 years and 68.5% of eligible people aged 50-64 years had received cervical screening (smear test) within a set timeframe, which was below the national target of 80%. The service had taken various actions to address this. For example, improving access by providing smear appointments at evenings, tackling language barrier by providing translated patient information and interpreter support and sending texts with direct booking links to targeted people. The service planned to audit non-attenders to tailor outreach activity and continue the social media campaign to raise people’s awareness of the importance of cervical screening.

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 were clearly recorded. Clinical staff had completed Mental Capacity Act training. Policies, protocols, and guidance were followed to support people to consent to care and treatment. Clinicians supported people to make decisions.