Dr Shobha Vallabhaneni & Partners - Medicentre

Updated 6 May 2022

Dr Shobha Vallabhaneni & Partners – Medicentre is the registered provider and provides primary care services to its registered list of 5659 patients at the time of the inspection. The practice delivers commissioned services under the General Medical Services (GMS) contract and is a member of NHS Wigan Borough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities. The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures, surgical procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, and treatment of disease, disorder and injury.

Regulated activities are delivered to the patient population from the following address:

Council Avenue

Ashton-in-Makerfield

Wigan

WN4 9AZ

The practice has a website that contains information about what they do to support their patient population and the in house and online services offered:

www.themedicentre.co.uk

There are three GPs working at the practice to cover all clinical sessions (female and male GPs) two practice nurses and healthcare assistant. There is a practice manager, assistant practice manager and supporting administration staff. The practice is also supported by a pharmacist from the Primary Care Network. The practice is a training practice for GPs.

The average life expectancy and age profile of the practice population is broadly in line with the CCG and national averages. Information taken from Public Health England placed the area in which the practice is located in the sixth less deprived decile (from a possible range of between 1 and 10). In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 99% White, and 1% Other.

Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the surgery and they will be directed to the local out of hours service which is provided through NHS 111. Additionally, patients can access GP services in the evening and on Saturdays and Sundays through the Wigan GP access alliance at locations across Wigan Borough

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone or online consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered an appointment at the practice.

Updated 6 May 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Dr Shobha Vallabhaneni & Partners – Medicentre on 7 April 2022. Overall, the practice is rated as Good with the following key question ratings:

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive - Good

Well-led - Good

Why we carried out this inspection

This was a full comprehensive inspection due to changes to the registration and location of the practice.

How we carried out the inspection/review

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently.

This inspection included:

• A site visit by the Lead inspector.
• Conducting staff interviews remotely and on site.
• Staff completing questionaires.
• Completing clinical searches remotely on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider.
• Reviewing patient records remotely to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider.
• Requesting evidence from the provider.

Our findings

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.

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 adjusted how it delivered services to meet the needs of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• More fully document in the clinical record when a medication review or a review of patients with a long-term condition has taken place.
• Continue to catch up medication reviews for patients where recall has lapsed due to the pandemic.
• Review and monitor the process for acting on safety alerts, to minimise the risk of any patients not receiving the required monitoring required for the medicines they are prescribed.
• Monitor the system implemented in relation to patients with diabetes, making sure these are embedded and maintained.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care