Updated 4 June 2019
Munro Medical Centre, is located in Spalding, a South Lincolnshire market town covering an area of some 100 square miles with a population of around 35,000 people. The practice provides GP services under a General Medical Services (PMS) contract to 20,490 patients in the town and surrounding area. The principle employment of people living in the locality are horticulture, food processing and logistics.
The practice was established in 1919 and moved to its current purpose-built premises in 1996. The building has been further extended in 2010 and improved to meet the needs of patients. The practice has a branch surgery in the nearby village of Pinchbeck which at the time of inspection was not used for patient consultations but was open twice a week to allow patients to drop off repeat prescriptions and collect their medication. We did not visit this during the course of the inspection.
The practice has one GP partner, one nurse partner, two full-time salaried GPs, one long-term locum GP, four full-time advanced paramedic practitioners, two full-time and three part-time practice nurses and six health care assistants. They are supported by a team of administrators, receptionists, dispensers, and managerial staff. In all the staff total 66.
The practice is registered with the CQC to carry out the following regulated activities - diagnostic and screening procedures, surgical procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.
It is a GP training practice.
The patient population has a relatively low deprivation score lying in the seventh centile, with the first centile being the highest level of deprivation and the tenth being the lowest level.
There were pockets of deprivation within the practice population, particularly associated with migrant workers and their families. The age profile of the practice showed that 20% of the patient population was aged 65 or over. 14% of the patient list were from Eastern European, with half of the young families registered with the practice also being from Eastern Europe.
The practice is located over two floors, though all areas accessed by patients were located on the ground floor.
The surgery was open from 8 am until 8pm Monday to Thursday and from 8 am until 6.30pm on Friday. The practice was also open from 9am to 12 noon on Saturdays and Sundays. On Wednesday the surgery closed from 12.30 to 1.30 pm for staff training.
The CCG has commissioned an extended hours service which is provided by Munro Medical Centre and allows their own and patients patients from other Spalding practices to make pre-bookable non-urgent appointments between 6.30pm and 8pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 12pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
It is a dispensing practice, providing dispensing services to around 3,000 eligible patients.
The practice lies within the NHS South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). A CCG is an organisation that brings together local GPs and experienced health professionals to take on commissioning responsibilities for local health services.
The practice has opted out of the requirement to provide GP consultations when the surgery is closed. The out-of-hours service is provided by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust.
The practice had previously been inspected by the Care Quality Commission in February 2015.