Grove Medical Centre

Updated 14 September 2022

Grove Medical Centre is located in Wolverhampton and is a merger of eight practice sites. The registered address for the partnership is at:

Grove Medical Centre

175 Steelhouse Lane

Wolverhampton

West Midlands

WV2 2AU

The branch surgeries are located at:

Church Street Surgery

62-64 Church Street,

Bilston,

West Midlands,

WV14 0AX

Hill Street Surgery

Hill Street,

Bradley,

Bilston

WV14 8SB

All Saints Medical Practice

17 Cartwright Street

All Saints

Wolverhampton

WV2 1EU

Woodcross Health Centre

Woodcross Lane,

Bilston,

West Midlands,

WV14 9BX

Parkfield Medical Centre

255 Parkfield Road,

Parkfields,

Wolverhampton,

West Midlands,

WV4 6EG

Bradley Medical Centre

Hall Green Street,

Bradley,

Bilston

West Midlands

WV14 8TH

Caerleon Surgery

Dover Street

Bilston

West Midlands

WV14 6AL

The provider is registered with CQC to deliver the Regulated Activities; diagnostic and screening procedures, maternity and midwifery services and treatment of disease, disorder or injury and surgical procedures.

Grove Medical Centre is situated within the Black Country Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provides services to approximately 38,383 patients under the terms of a general medical services (GMS) contract. This is a contract between general practices as independent contractors and NHS England to provide general medical services to patients on the practice list.

Information published by Public Health England shows the practice population group as in the second lowest decile (two of 10). The lower the decile, the more deprived the practice population is relative to others. According to the latest available data, the ethnic make-up of the practice area is 49.8% White, 31.3% Asian and 9.2% Black and 6.3% mixed and 3.4% other minority ethnic.

During the inspection we visited five of the eight practice sites. The combined practice population covers almost all of the south east area of Wolverhampton. The practices vary in list size and two sites have been combined to form a neighbourhood hub. Each hub has a core team of health care professionals, which includes GPs, pharmacists, practice nurses, healthcare assistants and administrative support. The hubs are also supported by a range of specialist roles provided by the primary care network (PCN). This includes Healthy Aging Co-ordinator, Physicians Associate, Social Prescribing Link Worker/s, Health Coaches, Care Co-ordinators and a home visiting service.

The provider is a partnership and registered with the CQC in 2019. The practice has 10 registered partners. Health and Beyond Ltd. Has a workforce of approximately 144 clinical and non-clinical staff. Staff work across the eight practices within the Grove Medical Centre Partnership and the two other locations registered with us as locations of the provider Health and Beyond Ltd. The clinical team includes 10 GP partners, 24 salaried GPs, specialist nurses, advanced nurse practitioners (ANP), clinical pharmacists and pharmacist technicians. The nursing team consists of 8 practice nurses, 11 healthcare assistants. The practice also provides formal training through a structured training programme to practice nurses and healthcare assistants. There is a team of 12 pharmacists consisting of a lead pharmacist, clinical pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

The non-clinical workforce includes a senior management team consisting of a Managing Director, a business intelligence lead and a freedom to speak up guardian. A review of the organisation management structure has introduced various operational leadership roles for example, general manager operations, hub managers and a team of administrative staff.

The age distribution of the practice population shows that there is a higher working age population than the local and national averages. The number of male and female patients registered at the practice is comparable.

The practice is open between 8am to 6.30pm on a Monday to Friday. Extended access is currently provided at weekends from 8am to 12pm for minor illnesses at one of Health and Beyond Ltd. Registered locations. Patients are directed to the extended hours service provided by Unity, Primary Care Network. Out of hours services were accessed via the NHS 111 service.

Due to the enhanced infection prevention and control measures put in place since the pandemic and in line with the national guidance, most GP appointments were telephone consultations. If the GP needs to see a patient face-to-face then the patient is offered a choice of an appointment at one of the practice sites.

Updated 14 September 2022

We carried out an announced inspection at Grove Medical Centre. Overall, the practice is rated as Good.

Safe - Good

Effective - Good

Caring - Good

Responsive – Good

Well-led – Requires Improvement

We previously carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Grove Medical Centre on 2 February 2020 as part of our inspection programme. The inspection in February 2020 was the first inspection following the merger of six services. Grove Medical Centre was registered as the main location for the other branch sites. The practice was rated as good overall.

The full report for the Grove Medical Centre following the merger can be found on our website at www.cqc.org.uk. The reports for the inspections of the former individual practices have been archived on our website.

Why we carried out this inspection

This inspection was a comprehensive inspection to review the Health and Beyond group of services. Following the last inspection two other practices had merged with Grove Medical Centre. This inspection was planned to follow up on whistleblowing concerns we received and concerns raised by patients relating to access.

How we carried out the inspection

Throughout the pandemic CQC has continued to regulate and respond to risk. However, taking into account the circumstances arising as a result of the pandemic, and in order to reduce risk, we have conducted our inspections differently. This inspection was carried out in a way which enabled us to spend a minimum amount of time on site. This was with consent from the provider and in line with all data protection and information governance requirements.

This included:

• Conducting staff interviews using video conferencing
• Completing clinical searches on the practice’s patient records system and discussing findings with the provider
• Reviewing patient records to identify issues and clarify actions taken by the provider
• Requesting evidence from the provider
• Site visits to the main location, Grove Medical Centre and four of its branch sites.

The inspections of the Health and Beyond Ltd. GP practices took place over a period of three months to provide time to follow up on the whistleblowing concerns received prior to and during the inspection process.

Our findings

We based our judgement of the quality of care at this service on a combination of:

• what we found when we inspected
• information from our ongoing monitoring of data about services
• information from the provider, patients, the public and other organisations.

We have rated this practice as Good overall

We found that:

• The partnership provided care in a way that kept patients safe and protected them from avoidable harm. Staff were aware of systems and processes to follow if they had any concerns.
• The partnership learned from incidents, events and complaints and ensured learning was shared among the staff team.
• The partnership had made effective use of the multiple practice sites and had made adaptations to minimise the risks to patients and staff during COVID-19.
• We found the premises were well maintained, appeared clean and tidy and had appropriate infection prevention and control arrangements in place.
• Our clinical searches found patients medicines were safely managed. The partnership was supported by a pharmacy team who carried out regular audits to further support the safety of medicines prescribed.
• Patients received effective care and treatment that met their needs. Our review of clinical records found effective systems were in place for follow up and monitoring of patients with long term conditions.
• The partnership had a programme of improvement and development in place, which included restructuring of staff and systems for monitoring and improving the approach to patient care.
• Staff dealt with patients with kindness and respect and involved them in decisions about their care.
• Patients reported difficulties accessing care and treatment in a timely way. The partnership and management team were aware of these concerns and plans were in place to address this. It was not evident however, that there was management oversight to monitor if progress was being made to improve access for their patients.
• It was not evident that leadership arrangements could demonstrate an open culture in which staff felt engaged and enabled to raise concerns.
• The partnership had high ambitions to develop a resilient and sustainable service following the merger of eight practices, despite significant challenges with COVID-19 and local pressures on the service.

Whilst we found no breaches of regulations, the provider should:

• Continue to develop centralised HR information so that it provides clear and accurate staff information for management and monitoring purposes.
• Continue to develop and improve the induction and recruitment processes and documentation.
• Provide evidence that staff vaccination and immunity for potential health care acquired infections are recorded or risk assessed for all staff.
• Improve the uptake of childhood immunisations and cervical and breast cancer screening.
• Continue to implement and monitor the action plan to improve access for patients and monitor the impact of the changes.
• Continue to implement and monitor the action planned to improve the staff working environment, communication arrangements with all staff groups and demonstrate an open culture in which staff felt engaged and enabled to raise concerns.

Details of our findings and the evidence supporting our ratings are set out in the evidence tables.

Dr Rosie Benneyworth BM BS BMedSci MRCGP

Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services and Integrated Care