Background to this inspection
Updated
11 April 2019
Tonge Fold Health Centre is located at Hilton Street, Tonge Fold, Bolton, Manchester BL2 6DY
The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; Treatment of disease, disorder or injury, diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and surgical procedures.
Tonge Fold Health Centre is situated within the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provides services to 6,268 patients under the terms of a personal medical services (PMS) contract. This is a contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering services to the local community.
There are five GP partners working at the practice; two male and three female. They work between three and eight sessions per week.
There are two practice nurses, a health care assistant and a part time pharmacist who is employed by the practice. The clinical staff are supported by a practice manager and a team of administrative / reception staff.
There are higher than average numbers of patients over the age of 65, there are fewer patients under 18 years and between 5 and 14 years.
The National General Practice Profile states that 87% of the practice population are white; 8.9% are Asian; 1.8% are black and mixed race and 0.5% are other ethnic groups.
Information published by Public Health England, rates the level of deprivation within the practice population group as three on a scale of one to ten. Level one represents the highest levels of deprivation and level ten the lowest. Male life expectancy is 76 years compared to the national average of 79 years. Female life expectancy is 81 years compared to the national average of 83 years.
Updated
11 April 2019
We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Tonge Fold Health Centre
on 26 February 2019 as part of our inspection programme.
We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:
- what we found when we inspected
- information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services and
- information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.
We have rated this practice as good overall and good for all population groups.
We found that:
- The practice provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm.
- Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs.
- Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
- The practice organised and delivered services to meet patients’ needs. Patients could access care and treatment in a timely way.
- The way the practice was led and managed promoted the delivery of high-quality, person-centre care.
We saw two areas of outstanding practice:
- The practice held a weekly art group for female patients with mental health problems and had in the past worked with a local photography club. Patients’ art work and photographs were displayed around the practice which helped provide a more relaxing environment for patients when they were feeling unwell. GPs had reviewed patients who attended the art class and were prescribed analgesics (pain killers). The review resulted in these patients being prescribed less analgesics because of their involvement with the group.
- There is a dedicated emergency room that is equipped to meet medical emergencies for the patient population who visit the practice. The room is easily accessible to all staff and there are emergency medicines and equipment readily available to clinicians, so they can deal with medical emergencies in a timely manner.
Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.
Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGPChief Inspector of General Practice