Stourport Medical Centre

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

Staff involved patient in decisions about their care and treatment and provided them with advice and support. Staff regularly reviewed patients' care and worked with other services to achieve this. Staff supported patients to live healthy lives and provided them with support and information on their care and treatment. Patients were supported to give consent for treatment where appropriate.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

Feedback from patients using the service was positive. Patients felt involved in any assessment of their needs and felt confident staff understood their individual and cultural needs.

Reception staff were aware of the needs of the local community. Staff used digital flags within the care records system to highlight any specific individual needs, such as the requirement for longer appointments or for a translator to be present. For example, reviews annual reviews for patients with a learning disability were allocated a 1-hour appointment slot. Staff checked patients’ health, care, and wellbeing needs during health reviews.

Clinical staff recorded information when conducting care reviews to support the review of patients' wider health and wellbeing. Leaders had effective systems to identify people with previously undiagnosed conditions. Patients were encouraged to be involved in monitoring and managing their own health and were referred to additional services if needed. For example, the local community drug and alcohol service.

Patients were positive about the care and treatment they received. They said staff gave them clear information about the treatment needed to support their physical and mental health.

Staff used the systems in place to follow the latest guidance and evidence-based practice. Staff received updates to ensure they used new guidance and made changes to existing procedures.

We undertook a series of remote searches of the practice’s clinical records system to review if care and treatment was delivered in line with best practice. Our searches demonstrated, systems worked effectively to support safe and effective care for patients prescribed high-risk medicine or medicines which required regular monitoring.

Patients were positive about being referred to other services and said this was done in a timely way.

Staff worked well with other services to ensure patients received safe and effective care. They met regularly with the frailty team who support local nursing homes and with professionals who were providing palliative care to patients.

Leaders gave numerous examples of how they work with partners to ensure the best possible care for patients. This included support for vulnerable patients, for example those on the safeguarding register and those residing in a local care home.

Leaders had effective systems in place to share information between teams and services. This ensured continuity of care for example when patients were transferred between services. Multidisciplinary meetings took place to discuss the care of vulnerable patients and the minutes of these was recorded to ensure actions were completed.

Patients were positive about the support and guidance given by staff to encourage them to live healthier lifestyles.

Staff gave patients advice and guidance about leading healthier lives. They encouraged patients to take an active role in reviewing their own health and wellbeing so they would recognise changes to their health and wellbeing.

The practice had embedded recall systems to support patients to manage their health. For example, they had a childhood immunisations coordinator to ensure children who missed their immunisations were followed up so where possible these were missed. The practice sent out congratulation cards to new parents which included an appointment for their child’s first immunisation so parents would know when this was due.

Patients received their test results promptly. This ensured they achieved the best possible outcomes. They were able to discuss these with a GP and received advice on ongoing treatment if required.

Staff received training to ensure they had the skills required to improve outcomes for patients. They recognised patients came from a range of diverse backgrounds and offered appropriate and individualised support to improve outcomes for patients who were homeless, Travellers and autistic people.

We completed remote clinical searches to check the quality of how leaders were monitoring outcomes for patients. We found no concerns with the way these were monitored and followed up.

Leaders used audits to monitor and improve outcomes for patients. These were detailed and used to ensure patients received the best possible outcomes. Leaders discussed outcomes of areas such as call and appointment times so they could make ongoing improvements for patients.

Patients had no concerns about how their consent was gained during consultations. Staff spoke to patients and gained consent for treatment.

Leaders and staff understood the requirements of legislation and guidance when considering consent and decision making. They told us they supported patients to make decisions. They had received training in the Mental Capacity Act and understood how to use Gillick Competence and Fraser Guidelines for supporting children.

Leaders had policies in place to support to staff considered consent throughout their work. They had a dedicated end of life and frailty lead who supported patients on these pathways. This ensured patients received consistent care in a timely way. We saw consent was documented. Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions were made in line with relevant legislation and were appropriate.