• Doctor
  • GP practice

Merlyn Vaz Centre

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Block B, 1 Spinney Hill Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE5 3GH (0116) 261 6233

Provided and run by:
Highfields Medical Centre

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 28 May 2019

Highfield Medical Centre is situated in the Merlyn Vaz Health and Social Care centre and has a branch surgery, Belgrave Medical Centre, in Brandon Street both of which are located close to Leicester city centre. The practice provides services for 9,180 patients under the terms of the NHS General Medical Services contract. The practice catchment area is of a low socioeconomic demographic and the age profile of the practice population has 91% of patients under 65 years of age.

The practice has two GP partners (one male and one female) and one salaried GP (female). They are supported by one practice nurse (female) and a healthcare assistant (male), a business manager, a practice manager assistant and a team of reception and administrative staff.

The practice is open from 8am to 6.30pm on a Monday to Friday. Appointments are available from 9am to 6pm with GPs and the practice nurse daily at each site. Pre-bookable appointments are also available with a GP or the practice nurse between 8am and 9pm every third Saturday at the main site. A phlebotomy service is available daily. The practice employs a locum pharmacist who attends the practice quarterly to review patient medications.

Both premises are rented from a private landlord and the buildings are maintained by a management company. The main site is based in a purpose-built health and social care centre with parking spaces to the front and side of the building. All patient facilities are on the ground floor. The Belgrave site is also a purpose-built building with all patient facilities on the first floor with lift access. There is a large car park at the front of the practice.

When the practice is closed calls are answered by the out-of-hours service which is accessed via the surgery telephone number or by calling the NHS 111 service. Extended access hubs are available out of hours to offer patients extended access to services.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 28 May 2019

This practice is rated as Good overall.

The key questions at this inspection are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? - Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Highfields Medical Centre on 25 March 2019 as part of our inspection programme.

At this inspection we found:

  • The practice had clear and comprehensive systems in place to manage risk to that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the whole practice team leaned from them and improved their processes.
  • The practice routinely reviewed the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care it provided. It ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines.
  • Staff involved and treated patients with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.
  • Patients found the appointment system easy to use and most patients reported that they were able to access care when they needed it.
  • There was a strong focus on continuous learning and improvement at all levels of the organisation.

We saw an area of outstanding practice:

  • The practice had a high prevalence of patients with diabetes and in response offered a comprehensive service to this group of patients. This included weekly diabetes clinics, an enhanced diabetes provision service led by the GP and practice nurse and occupational assessments for treatment choice. The practice is awaiting enhanced diabetes care status

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care