Drs. Hamilton, Earl & Sowden Also known as Saltash Health Centre

Updated 4 October 2018

This report relates to the regulatory activities being carried out at Saltash Health Centre which is situated in the Cornish town of Saltash. Saltash Health Centre is comprised of one site. The address of the site is Callington Road, Saltash, Cornwall PL12 6DL. We visited this site during our inspection. The practice has a website which is located at www.saltashhealthcentre.co.uk.

The deprivation decile rating for this area is six (with one being the most deprived and 10 being the least deprived). The practice provides a primary medical service to approximately 11,800 patients of a diverse age group. The 2011 census data showed that majority of the local population identified themselves as being White British.

There is a team of five GP partners, three female and two male; the partners are supported by three salaried GPs. The whole-time equivalent is six. The GP team were supported by a practice manager, two deputy practice managers, a prescribing team leader, five practice nurses, three paramedics, four health care assistants, two phlebotomists, and additional administration staff.

Patients using the practice also have access to health visitors, counsellors, carer support workers, district nurses, and midwives. Other health care professionals visited the practice on a regular basis.

The practice is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are offered between 8.30am and 5.30pm. Extended hours are worked on Monday 6.30pm to 8pm and Wednesday 7am to 8am. Outside of these times patients are directed to contact the Out of Hours service and the NHS 111 number. This is in line with local contract arrangements.

The practice offers a range of appointment types including face to face same day appointments, telephone consultations and advance appointments (four weeks in advance) as well as online services such as repeat prescriptions.

Updated 4 October 2018

This practice is rated as Good overall. (Previous rating April 2015 – Good)

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Saltash Health Centre on 31 July 2018 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned from them and improved their processes.
• The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence- based guidelines.
• Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
• Patients found the appointment system easy to use and reported that they could access care when they needed it.
• There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.
• The practice worked closely with a military charity to display a heroes’ mural for the new extension at the practice. This was part of the practice’s support for military veterans and their families in the area. Saltash had a higher than average number of families with members in the armed forces due to the proximity of military bases in the area.
• The practice was one of the first GP practices in the area to have employed three specialist paramedics. The practice had introduced its acute assessment clinic run by the paramedics and overseen by the duty GP. This clinic provided urgent care and allowed GPs to see patients with more complex needs.
• The practice had achieved notable results in its childhood immunisation programme. The World Health Organisation target of 95% for childhood immunisations had been exceeded by 1.5% in all four key areas.

We identified areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice had successfully continued to develop their secondary school outreach clinic called TicTac since our previous inspection in April 2015. TicTac clinics with practice GPs and nurses and a dedicated TicTac co-ordinator were held daily at the local secondary school. TicTac improved access to healthcare and contraception, anxiety and mental health issues, improved emotional and mental health and wellbeing, reduced unwanted teenage pregnancy, childhood obesity, helped young people give up smoking, reduced substance misuse and alcohol abuse and promoted collaborative and multi-agency working through direct links with the school’s safeguarding system. TicTac had provided over 1,000 appointments in the last 12 months.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.