Woodside Medical Centre

Updated 13 September 2016

Woodside Medical Centre at 247j Wood Street, Middleton, M24 5QL provide primary medical services in Middleton near Manchester from Monday to Friday. The practice is open between 8am and 6.00pm. The first appointment of the day with a GP is 8.40am and the last appointment with a GP is 5.50pm. Extended hours are offered on Monday evenings until 7.45pm. Same day urgent appointments are available each day.

Woodside Medical Centre is situated within the geographical area of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

The practice has a General Medical Services (GMS) contract. The GMS contract is the contract between general practices and NHS England for delivering primary care services to local communities.

Woodside Medical Centre is responsible for providing care to 8152 patients.

The practice consists of six GP partners three male and three female, one practice nurse and a phlebotomist. The practice is supported by a practice manager, finance manager, secretaries and receptionists.

When the practice is closed patients are directed to the out of hour’s service BARDOC.

The practice is part of a group of practices who offer appointments to a GP and PN seven days a week.

The practice is a teaching practice regularly taking students from Manchester University.

Updated 13 September 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Woodside Medical Centre on 12 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, including those relating to recruitment checks.
• 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:

The practice had developed a number of templates for all patient contacts such as telephone calls to the surgery, A&E attendances and safeguarding which allowed the practice to monitor certain activity resulting in a focused approach and improved care for vulnerable groups of patients.

Professor Steve Field CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 13 September 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.
• The practice nurse ran a diabesity prevention programme which identified patients at risk using a validated risk assessment tool.The overall aim was to avoid or delay the onset of type two diabetes in high risk patients. 71 patients were screened and 27 diagnosed with prediabetes and 11 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.Patients were offered sessions with a health trainer, support with lifestyle and weight loss which resulted in a lower risk score and improved health.
• The practice developed their own templates based on NICE guidelines for long term conditions such as gout, migraine and abnormal LFT. These templates ensured consistency of care throughout the clinical team.
• The practice recently held two well man clinics for male patients who don’t normally attend surgery. The clinics offered screening for long term conditions and provided support for lifestyle modification.
• 92% of diabetic patients had a record of having had a foot examination and risk classification within the preceding twelve months compared to the national average of 88%.
• 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.
• Patients suffering with COPD were issed with emergency rescue packs .
• The practice were able to initiate insulin to its diabetic patients.

Updated 13 September 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.
• The practice signposted patients to the local community centre for housing benefit advice and access to a foodbank.
• 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.
• 80% of women aged between 25 and 64 had their notes recorded that a cervical screening test had been performed in the preceding five years which similar to the national average of 82%.
• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies.
• Same day appointments were offered to children under the age of 12 years.
• We saw positive examples of joint working with midwives, health visitors and school nurses.
• Birth cards were sent to all new parents together with information about assessments and immunistions.
• Breast feeding mothers were welcomed by the practice and a room was made available if required.
• Full contraceptive services were offered including the fitting of coils, implants and injections.
• A confidential sexual health screening was offered to patients.

Updated 13 September 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 patients in its population.
• The practice was responsive to the needs of older patients and offered home visits and urgent appointments for those with enhanced needs.
• All patients over the age of 75 had a personalised care plan and a named GP.
• The practice embraced the Gold Standards Framework for end of life care. This included supporting patients’ choice to receive end of life care at home.
• The practice nurse visited housebound patients to review long term conditions and to offer vaccinations such as flu, shingles and pneumococcal.
• The practice took part in a local tea dance which was organised with neighbouring practices where patients aged over 65 were encouraged to take up the flu vaccination.
• Nursing homes were given access to a bypass telephone number to contact the surgery.

Updated 13 September 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.
• The practice offered extended hours every Monday evening for patients that were unable to attend the surgery during normal working hours.
• Telephone consultations were offered to patients who required them.
• The practice had a dedicated 24 hour answer phone service so that patients were able to phone, at a time convenenient to them, to order repeat prescriptions.

Updated 13 September 2016

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

• 79% of patients diagnosed with dementia who had their care reviewed in a face to face meeting in the last 12 months, which is comparable to the national average.
• 87% of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder and other psychoses had a comprehensive, agreed care plan documented in their record in the preceding 12 months which is comparable to the national average of 88%..
• 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.
• Patients at risk of depression were signposted to Healthy Minds for counselling and support.
• Patients with a history of self harm were followed up by the practice and offered support.

Updated 13 September 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, military veterans and those with a learning disability.
• The practice offered longer appointments for patients with a learning disability.
• 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.
• The practice held a register of all patients with a DoLs (Deprivation of Liberties) in place. Each of these patients had an alert on the clinical computer system which was linked to a template showing detailed information about the DoLs.
• One of the partners had a special interest in substance misuse and held a weekly clinic for all patients in the local area.
• The practice had developed a number of templates for all patient contacts such as telephone calls to the surgery, A&E attendances and safeguarding which allowed the practice to monitor certain activity resulting in a focused approach and improved care for vulnerable groups of patients.