Archived: Northcroft Surgery

Updated 16 July 2015

The practice operates from a purpose built surgery which was first opened in 1983 and extended in 2002. The practice intends to move to new larger premises in the summer of 2016. Services are provided to a registered practice population of approximately 8,850 and this population is drawn from an area of low income deprivation. There is a slightly higher than average number of patients in the age range of 25 to 49.

There are six GPs working at the practice of which two are full time and four are part time. Four of the GPs are partners and two are salaried GPs. Four of the GPs are female and two are male. The practice has one nurse practitioner, a practice nurse and a health care assistant. At the time of our inspection there was a vacancy for a further part time practice nurse. The practice manager is supported by a team of administration and reception staff. The practice delivers services via a General Medical Services (GMS) contract (GMS contracts are negotiated nationally between GP representatives and the NHS).

The practice is open between 8am and 6:30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are from 8:30am to 11am every morning and 4pm to 6:20pm daily. Extended hours surgeries are offered every Wednesday evening until 7:50pm and every other Saturday. In recent months the surgery had been opening every Saturday morning when longer appointments were available.

Services are provided from: Northcroft Surgery, Northcroft Lane, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 1BU

The practice has opted out of providing out of hours services to their patients. Out of hours services are provided by Westcall. There are arrangements in place for services to be provided when the surgery is closed and these are displayed at the practice, in the practice information leaflet and on the patient website.

Updated 16 July 2015

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of Northcroft Surgery, Northcroft Lane, Newbury Berkshire, RG14 1BU. This was the first inspection of the practice under the new CQC comprehensive inspection approach and was undertaken to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Overall the practice is rated as good and all domains and patient groups carrying the same rating.

Our key findings were as follows:

• The practice offered a range of appointments and patient feedback showed the practice to be responsive to meeting patient requests for appointments.

• The practice sought the views of patients and staff in planning future service development. For example patients were asked to comment on the practice move to new premises.

• The practice was clean and tidy and the risks of cross infection were reduced by operation of safe systems.

• Patients with complex care needs were involved in the preparation of their care plans.

• Longer appointments were available for patients who were vulnerable or had complex care needs.

• The practice achieved all the national targets for care and review of patients with specific long term medical conditions in 2014/15.

There were some areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

The provider should:

• Share learning from significant events with secondary care providers when the incident involves care and treatment provided by more than one party.
• Take the opportunity to widen the scope of clinical audit and share outcomes from audit to further improve patient care and outcomes.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 16 July 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. Patients in this group received a structured annual review to check that their health and medication needs were being met. The practice had achieved 100% of the national Quality and Outcomes targets for this group. For patients with the most complex needs, the GPs worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 16 July 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of families, children and young patients. 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 patients who were on the at risk register. Immunisation rates were high for all standard childhood immunisations. Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. We saw good examples of joint working with health visitors and school nurses.

Updated 16 July 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 urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

Updated 16 July 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of working-age patients (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.

Updated 16 July 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). Ninety eight per cent of patients experiencing poor mental health 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.

Updated 16 July 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including homeless people, carers and those with a learning disability. It had carried out annual health checks for 95% of patients with a learning disability. It offered longer appointments for vulnerable patients and designated an appointment in every morning GP clinic specifically for vulnerable patients. One of the GPs took a lead role in ensuring care for vulnerable patients met their needs.

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.