The Falcon Road Medical Centre

Updated 19 December 2016

Falcon Road Medical Centre provides primary medical services in Wandsworth to approximately 9050 patients and is one of 44 member practices in the NHS Wandsworth Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The practice operates under a Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract and provides a number of local and national enhanced services (enhanced services require an increased level of service provision above that which is normally required under the core GP contract).

Wandsworth has 50% more 20 to 40 year olds, but 33% fewer older people than other south west London boroughs, reflected in the patient demographics for the practice with 9% of patients aged 65 or over, 71% of patients aged 18-65 years old and 20% aged 18 or younger.

The practice population is in the fourth more deprived decile with income deprivation affecting children and adults higher than national averages.

The practice operates from the ground floor of a purpose built property with eight consultation rooms, three treatment rooms, a patient reception and waiting area and administrative facilities. The practice is wheelchair accessible throughout, with disabled access facilities, a breast feeding room, and babychange facilities.

The practice clinical team is made up of six GP partners and two salaried GPs, four GPs are male and four are female, providing 44 GP sessions per week. The GPs are supported by a part time physicians assistant. There are two female part time practice nurses and one female healthcare assistant. The practice is a training and a teaching practice for GP registrars and student doctors. The non-clinical team consists of one practice manager, nine reception staff and two administrative staff.

The practice opens between 8.30am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Telephone lines are operational between the hours of 8.30am and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Appointments are available between 8.30am and 12.30am and between 1.30pm and 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Extended hours are available Monday to Thursday from 6.30pm until 7.00pm for pre booked appointments. Saturday morning pre booked appointments are available between 9.00am and 12.00pm once or twice a month depending on availability of staff and demand from patients.

The provider has opted out of providing out-of-hours (OOH) services to their own patients between 6.30pm and 8.30am when the practice directs patients to seek assistance from the locally agreed out of hours provider.

The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the regulated activities of maternity and midwifery services, treatment of disease, disorder or injury, family planning, surgical procedures and Diagnostic and screening procedures.

The practice has not previously been inspected by CQC.

Updated 19 December 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The Falcon Road Medical Centre on 28 July 2016. Overall the practice is rated as good.

Our key findings across all the areas we inspected were as follows:

• There was an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Staff assessed patients’ needs and delivered care in line with current evidence based guidance. Staff had been trained to provide them with the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• 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. Improvements were made to the quality of care as a result of complaints and concerns.
• Patients said they found it easy to make an appointment with a named GP and there was continuity of care, 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 it acted on.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the duty of candour.

We saw one area of outstanding practice:

• We found that the practice vision and values were embedded in the organisations culture and prioritised good quality patient care. The practice had a mission statement with a clear vision and set of values for the practice. This had been developed with all staff, who had shown their support and commitment to the values by signing a copy on display in the staff break area. The mission statement and vision and values were also clearly displayed on the practice website, in the reception area, and throughout the practice including on documents, information leaflets and posters produced by the practice.

The areas where the provider should make improvement are:

• Review how patients with caring responsibilities are identified and recorded on the clinical system to ensure information, advice and support is made available to them.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 19 December 2016

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

• Nursing staff had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.

• Performance for diabetes related indicators was comparable to the local and national average.

• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.

• All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check their health and medicines needs were being met. For those patients with the most complex needs, the named GP worked with relevant health and care professionals to deliver a multidisciplinary package of care.

Updated 19 December 2016

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, children and young people who had a high number of A&E attendances. Immunisation rates were relatively high for all standard childhood immunisations.

• Patients told us that children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals, and we saw evidence to confirm this.

• The practice’s uptake for the cervical screening programme was 78%, which was comparable to the CCG average of 81% and the national average of 82%.

• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.

• We saw positive examples of joint working with midwives and health visitors.

Updated 19 December 2016

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

• The practice offered proactive, personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population.

• The practice was responsive to the needs of older people, and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.

• All older people had a named GP responsible for their care.

Updated 19 December 2016

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

• The needs of the working age population, those recently retired and students had been identified and the practice had adjusted the services it offered to ensure these were accessible, flexible and offered continuity of care.

• The practice was proactive in offering online services as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflects the needs for this age group.

Updated 19 December 2016

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

• Performance for mental health related indicators was comparable to the local and national averages.

• The practice regularly worked with multi-disciplinary teams in the case management of patients experiencing poor mental health, including those with dementia.

• The practice carried out advance care planning for patients with dementia.

• The practice had told patients experiencing poor mental health about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• The practice had a system in place to follow up patients who had attended accident and emergency where they may have been experiencing poor mental health.

• Staff had a good understanding of how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 19 December 2016

The practice is rated as good for the care of people whose circumstances may make them vulnerable.

• The practice held a register of patients living in vulnerable circumstances including homeless people, travellers and those with a learning disability.

• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability, a named GP and reception staff member available through a designated phoneline and conducted consultations using appropriate language and information for this group including easy read information leaflets.

• The practice demonstrated that over time their engagement with patients with learning difficulties had led to improvements for several health indicators for example, an increase in the number of patients receiving breast and cervical screening, an increase in the number of patients with normal blood pressure levels,

• The practice regularly worked with other health care professionals in the case management of vulnerable patients.

• The practice informed vulnerable patients about how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations.

• Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in vulnerable adults and children. Staff were aware of their responsibilities regarding information sharing, documentation of safeguarding concerns and how to contact relevant agencies in normal working hours and out of hours.