Lowton Surgery

Updated 20 December 2018

Lowton Surgery is the registered provider and provides primary care services to its registered list of 4810 patients. The practice delivers commissioned services under the Personal Medical Services (PMS) contract and is a member of NHS Wigan Borough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The PMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities. The practice is registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to provide the regulated activities of diagnostic and screening procedures; surgical procedures; and treatment of disease, disorder and injury.

The practice has recently become part of part of SSP Health GPMS Ltd, a federated organisation and benefits from support from the leadership and governance teams. The practice has access to support and leadership from a nursing lead and pharmacist as well as access to human resources, auditing and finance teams.

Regulated activities are delivered to the patient population from the following address:

208C

Newton Road, Lowton

Warrington

WA3 2AQ

There is also a branch surgery at:

647 Liverpool Road

Platt Bridge

Wigan

WN2 5BD

The practice has a website that contains information about what they do to support their patient population and the in house and online services offered:

www.ssphealth.com/our-practices/lowton-Surgery

There are five GPs (one female and four male) and they are supported by a practice nurse There is also a practice manager, a surgery manager and supporting administration staff.

The average life expectancy and age profile of the practice population is broadly in line with the CCG and national averages. Information taken from Public Health England placed the area in which the practice is located in the fourth most deprived decile (from a possible range of between 1 and 10). In general, people living in more deprived areas tend to have greater need for health services.

Patients requiring a GP outside of normal working hours are advised to contact the surgery and they will be directed to the local out of hours service which is provided by Bridgewater NHS Foundation Trust –through NHS 111. Additionally, patients can access GP services in the evening and on Saturdays and Sundays through the Wigan GP access alliance at locations across Wigan Borough.

Updated 20 December 2018

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 Lowton Surgery on 6 December 2018 under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. We also visited the branch surgery as part of the inspection. The inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

At this inspection we found:

• The practice had clear systems to manage risk so that safety incidents were less likely to happen. When incidents did happen, the practice learned 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 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.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP
Chief Inspector of General Practice

Please refer to the detailed report and the evidence tables for further information.

Updated 20 December 2018

Updated 20 December 2018

Updated 20 December 2018

Updated 20 December 2018

Updated 20 December 2018

Updated 20 December 2018