Updated 24 December 2018
Sunderland GP Alliance is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide primary care services. This practice was formed from a previous merger of three practices in 2016.
The practice now provides services to around 12,700 patients from three locations and we visited these addresses as part of the inspection.
• The Galleries Health Centre, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 7NQ
• Barmston Medical Centre, Westerhope Road, Washington, Tyne and Wear, NE38 8JF
• Pennywell Medical Centre, Portsmouth Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, SR4 9AS
The patients can access care at any of the surgeries. The practice is part of NHS Sunderland clinical commissioning group (CCG).
The provider, Sunderland GP Alliance is a collaboration of GP practices in Sunderland. The Board of Directors are elected by the Member GP Practices on a four year term, and are responsible for directing the company’s operations on the shareholders’ behalf. All the directors must be a Partner of a Member GP Practice.
Deprivation indicators place this practice in an area with a score of five out of ten. A lower number means an area is more deprived. People living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services. This practice has lower levels of deprivation when compared to the local CCG average, but is slightly higher than the England average. The practice has fewer numbers of patients aged 65 and over compared to CCG and England averages, and higher numbers of patients under the age of 18.
The Galleries Health Centre is situated in purpose-built premises in Washington; the health centre is shared with other primary medical and secondary services. All reception and consultation rooms are fully accessible for patients with mobility issues. There is car parking available in the nearby shopping centre and there are dedicated disabled parking bays on the ground floor of the building. There is a lift to access the higher floors.
Barmston Medical Centre is a purpose built premises, there are patient facilities on the ground floor and there are disabled parking spaces in the patient car park, with wheelchair and step free access.
Pennywell Medical Centre is based in purpose built premises that are shared with external community services. All reception and consultation rooms are fully accessible and on one level. There is on-site parking and disabled parking. There is a disabled WC.
The practice has three salaried GPs, and also uses locum doctors. There are five advanced nurse practitioners (ANP’s), two practice nurses, three career start practice nurses, four healthcare assistants and a team of management and administrative staff. Career start nurses are first level registered nurses, the career start scheme assists them in their career in practice nursing. There are full time business and practice managers.
The three locations are open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm. The provider is a federation of GP practices in the Sunderland area who work together to provide appointments with GPs, nurses or health care assistants outside of their normal working hours. This meant the practice is able to provide early morning, late evening, weekend and bank holiday appointments at this or other locations. Patients can contact the practice reception team to arrange these appointments.
When the practice is closed patients are directed to the NHS 111 service. This information is also available on the practice website and in the practice leaflet.