Archived: Conishead Medical Group

Updated 4 February 2016

The practice is based within Ryhope Health Centre and provides care and treatment to 3,062 patients of all ages mainly from the Ryhope, Sunderland East and Seaham areas. The practice is part of the Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and operates on a General Medical Services (GMS) contract agreement for general practice.

The practice provides services from the following address:

Conishead Medical Group, Ryhope Health Centre, Black Road, Ryhope, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR2 0RY

The practice offers on-site parking; including disabled parking bays and the premises provide fully accessible treatment and consultation rooms on the ground floor for patients with mobility needs. The practice is open between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday and surgery appointment times are as follows:

8.30am to 11.40am and 12.30pm to 5.30pm on a Monday, Wednesday & Friday

9.30am to 11.40am and 3pm to 5.10pm on a Tuesday 8.30am to 10.30am and 3.30pm to 5.30pm on a Thursday

The service for patients requiring urgent medical attention out-of-hours is provided by the NHS 111 service and Northern Doctors Urgent Care Limited (NDUC). The practice also participates in the Riverview out of hour’s scheme which operates weekdays from 6pm to 8pm and on weekends and bank holidays from 9am to 2pm from Riverview Health Centre in Sunderland.

Conishead Medical Group offers a range of services and clinic appointments including chronic disease management clinics for patients with diabetes, hypertension, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ischemic heart disease (IHD) and heart failure as well as family planning, cervical screening, NHS health checks, well person clinics, over 75 years checks, immunisations and vaccinations and foreign travel advice.

The practice consists of two GPs (one male and one female), a practice manager, an assistant practice manager, two nurses, a healthcare assistant and four reception/administrative staff.

Information taken from Public Health England placed the area in which the practice was located in the fifth most deprived decile. In general people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. The practices age distribution profile showed higher percentages of patients aged 45-59 than the national averages.

Updated 4 February 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Conishead Medical Group on 28 April 2015. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Specifically, we found the practice to be good for providing safe, well-led, caring and responsive services. It was also good for providing services for the six key population group which are older people; people with long-term conditions; families, children and young people; working age people (including those recently retired and students); people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and people experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

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. Information about safety was recorded, monitored, appropriately reviewed and addressed.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance.
• 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 were able to get an appointment with a GP when they needed one, 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 they acted on.

However there were areas of practice where the provider needs to make improvements.

Importantly the provider must:

• Implement a staff appraisal system to ensure staff are provided with adequate support to identify and address learning and development needs. In addition the practice should ensure that all staff have the necessary training to allow them to fulfil their roles and responsibilities.

In addition the provider should:

findings

• Ensure regular infection control audits are carried out and recorded
• Ensure that the practice receives assurance and verification that shared equipment such as the defibrillator is checked and maintained.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of patients with long term conditions.

The practice was able to demonstrate effective, comprehensive and regularly reviewed care planning for patients with long term conditions. The care plans detailed the involvement of other multi-disciplinary professionals and were easily accessible. Chronic disease management clinics were held to cover a wide variety of diseases and nursing staff were encouraged to seek and were given time to attend continuous professional development training courses in the treatment of such diseases. A recall system on the practice computer system identified patients requiring follow up appointments and tests. One of the practice GPs was actively involved in the design team for the development of a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) wide Integrated Care Team with the aim of tailoring care to help patients with long term conditions avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. This had led to the development of an assessment proforma, comprehensive care plans and analysis of all cases at Integrated Care Team meetings. This resulted in all appropriate agencies being informed of patients’ needs and they were aware aware of the level of intervention required for each patient to prevent hospital admissions.

Updated 27 August 2015

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 looked after children or children subject of a child protection plan. Immunisation rates were above or in line with local averages for all standard childhood immunisations. For example, meningitis c vaccination rates for 12 month old children were 88% compared to 84.4% locally; for two year old children 100% compared to 98.1% locally; and for five year old children 100% as compared to 97.9% locally. Children under the age of five years old were offered same day appointments and appointments were available outside of school hours. One of the GPs was a paediatric specialist and a Member of the Royal College of Paediatricians (MRCP). Cervical screening rates for women aged 25-64 were above the national average at 85.6% (national average 81.9%).

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of older patients.

Nationally reported data showed the practice had achieved good outcomes in relation to the conditions commonly associated with older people. Patients within the 2% most at risk of hospital admission were routinely followed up on discharge from hospital to ensure they had appropriate support Every patient over the age of 75 years had a named GP and these patients were offered an annual health check. This included the offer of a home visit facilitated by the practice nurse if the patient was housebound. The percentage of patients aged 65 and older who had received a seasonal flu vaccination was higher than the national average at 79.5% (national average 73.2%). The practice also actively identified and supported palliative care patients.

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the care of working age patients (including those recently retired and students).

The practice was proactive in offering on-line services to patients such as being able to order repeat prescriptions and book appointments. A text messaging appointment reminder service for patients was also available. Practice patients were able to pre book out of normal working hour’s appointments at Riverview Health Centre, Sunderland as part of an extended hour’s pilot scheme. Health promotion information was available in the waiting room and on the practice web site.

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of patients experiencing poor mental health (including people with dementia).

The practice had exceeded the national average in ensuring comprehensive and agreed care plans were in place for patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affected disorder and other psychoses (92% compared to a national average of 86%) and also in relation to the number of patients diagnosed with dementia whose care had been reviewed in a face to face review in the preceding 12 months ( 84.6% compared to a national average of 83.8%). All practice staff including the GPs and practice nurses had attended dementia awareness training and are ‘Dementia Friends’ (Dementia Friends is an initiative to help people with dementia feel understood and included in their community). The practice had increased their diagnosis of patients with dementia by reviewing all patients in care homes as well as those on certain medications.

Updated 27 August 2015

The practice is rated as good for the population group of patients whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

Nationally reported data showed the practice had achieved good outcomes in relation to meeting the needs of patients with learning disabilities. The practice kept a register of these patients and used this information to ensure they received an annual health review and other relevant checks and tests. Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children and how to raise safeguarding concerns with the relevant agencies. The practice was proactive in identifying carers and had a named lead staff officer for carers as well as safeguarding children and adults. Carers were routinely offered annual health checks, priority appointments and flu immunisations and patients who were carers were offered a referral/signposting to their local carers centre.