Archived: Church Street Surgery

Updated 11 February 2016

Church Street Surgery is located within the town centre of Bilston. It provides services for patients in a single storey building. The practice is located in an area of high deprivation and falls just below the 30% most deprived in England. The practice is easily accessible by varied public transport links or car. There is access for patients who use a wheelchair at the side of the building. Car parking facilities are available at the rear of the practice and at nearby car parks and designated roadside parking areas.

The total practice patient population is 5,508. There are two male GPs who provide services which equate to two whole time equivalent GPs. The practice team includes one practice manager, one practice nurse and one healthcare assistant. There are four practice support staff including a secretary and three receptionists. In total there are 10 staff employed either full or part time hours.

The practice is open between 8.30am to 6.30pm Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, Wednesday 8.30am to 1pm and Thursday 8.30am to 7.30pm. Appointments are from 8.30am to 11.00am Monday to Friday and afternoon appointments Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 3pm to 6pm. Extended surgery hours are offered from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Thursdays. The practice does not provide an out-of-hours service to its patients but has alternative arrangements for patients to be seen when the practice is closed. Patients are directed to the out of hours services, Primecare. Patients are also given details about the NHS 111 service and the local Walk-in Centres.

The practice has a contract to provide General Medical Services (GMS) for patients. This is a contract for the practice to deliver general medical services to the local community. They provide Directed Enhanced Services, such as the childhood vaccination and immunisation scheme and minor surgery. The practice provides a number of clinics for example long-term condition management including asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure. It also offers services for health checks and foreign travel.

Updated 11 February 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Church Street Surgery on Tuesday 15 December 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• Staff understood and fulfilled their responsibilities to raise concerns and to report incidents and near misses. There was an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and they were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and that there was continuity of care, with urgent appointments available the same day.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat patients and meet their needs.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff felt supported by management. The practice proactively sought feedback from staff and patients, which it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

There were areas of practice where the provider should make improvements:

Have a system in place to record, investigate and demonstrate the outcome of verbal complaints received.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 11 February 2016

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. Performance for diabetes assessment and care was similar to the national average (88.4% as compared to the national average of 89.2%). Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.  All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care. Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.

Updated 11 February 2016

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. Data showed that 73.4% of patients on the practice register had had an asthma review in the last 12 months. 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 positive examples of joint working with midwives and health visitors. The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 77.35%, which was comparable to the national average of 81.83%.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of older people. The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population. The practice offered home visits and urgent appointments for those older patients with enhanced needs. Nationally reported data showed that outcomes for patients were good for conditions commonly found in older people. In response to a lower than average performance for the number of patients aged 65 and older who had received a seasonal flu vaccination (60.52% as compared to the national average of 73.24%) the practice had taken action to improve the outcomes for patients in this area.

Updated 11 February 2016

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 reflected the needs for this age group.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia). The data showed that 88.5% of patients on the practice register who experienced poor mental health had been offered an annual health check. This was lower than the national average of 92.8%. The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations. The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of people who experienced poor mental health, including those with dementia. It carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia. The dementia diagnosis rate for 2014/2015 was higher than the national average (100% as compared to the national average of 81.5%). The exception reporting rate for this clinical outcome area was 0.0%. Staff had a good understanding of how to support people with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 11 February 2016

The practice is rated good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including homeless people, travellers and patients with a learning disability. The practice worked regularly with the local specialist learning disability nurses to ensure it carried out annual health checks for people with a learning disability. Designated morning or afternoon clinics were arranged and longer appointments were available. An easy read (pictorial) letter was sent to patients with a learning disability inviting them to attend the practice for their annual health check.

Staff had been trained 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. 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.