Aireborough Family Practice

Updated 31 March 2016

Aireborough Family Practice is located in Yeadon, which is a small town located within the City of Leeds. The practice is part of Leeds North Clinical Commissioning Group.

The practice is located in a two storey purpose built building and is co-located with another GP practice. All clinical services are provided on the ground floor.

There is a shared reception and waiting area which is divided into two to assist patients to identify each practice upon arrival.

The practice has good working relationships with local health, social and third sector services to support provision of care for its patients.

The practice serves a population of approximately 4155 patients and the service is provided by three GP partners (two male and one female). The partners are supported two practice nurses (female). The clinical staff are supported by a practice manager, and experienced team of administrative and secretarial staff.

The practice is open from 8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Extended hours are provided on Monday from 7.30am-8am and 6.30pm to 7.30pm and on Tuesdays from 7.30am to 8am.

When the practice is closed out-of-hours services are provided by Local Care Direct, which can be accessed via the surgery telephone number or by calling the NHS 111 service.

Personal Medical Services (PMS) are provided under a contract with NHS England. The following regulated activities are provided by Aireborough Family Practice from Silver Lane Surgery; diagnostic and screening procedures, family planning, maternity and midwifery services, surgical procedures and treatment of disease, disorder or injury. They also offer a range of enhanced services such as minor surgery and childhood immunisations.

Updated 31 March 2016

Letter from the Chief Inspector of General Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at Aireborough Family Practice on 27 October and 18 November 2015. On the morning of the planned inspection the GP specialist advisor was taken ill. The inspection was therefore carried out over two days. It was a comprehensive inspection that examined the organisational, clinical, medical and quality aspects of the practice. Overall the practice is rated as good for providing safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care for all of the population groups it serves.

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 was in place for reporting and recording significant events.
• Risks to patients were assessed and well managed.
• Patients’ needs were assessed and care was planned and delivered following best practice guidance. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to deliver effective care and treatment.
• Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in care and decisions about their treatment.
• Patients were positive about access to the service. They said they found it easy to make an appointment, there was continuity of care and urgent appointments were available on the same day as requested.
• The practice had good facilities and was well equipped to treat and meet the needs of patients.
• The practice sought patient views how improvements could be made to the service, through the use of patient surveys, the NHS Friends and Family Test and the patient participation group.
• Information about services and how to complain was available and easy to understand.
• There was a clear leadership structure and staff were supported by management.
• The provider was aware of and complied with the requirements of the Duty of Candour.

We saw areas of outstanding practice:

• The practice were supporting the practice nurses to undertake training with the tissue viability nurses. This was to enable them to provide four layer bandages and improve their knowledge of wound management.
• The practice had used CCG monies to purchase dermatoscopes, used to improve examination of skin legions.
• The practice had used pooled monies to recruit an additional nurse and health care assistant to work with the community matron and provide support to the elderly and frail.
• The practice had a dedicated GP to oversee the care of patients with a learning disability and worked closely with the Royal College of GPs Professional Interest Group to develop systems of care for these patients.

Professor Steve Field (CBE FRCP FFPH FRCGP) 

Chief Inspector of General Practice

Updated 31 March 2016

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

• All these patients had a named GP and a structured annual review to check that their health and medicines needs were being met. The practice nurses had lead roles in chronic disease management and patients at risk of hospital admission were identified as a priority.
• Longer appointments and home visits were available when needed.
• The practice was participating in the Year of Care programme. An initiative aimed to encourage patients with long term conditions to understand their condition and select their own personal targets.

Updated 31 March 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 accident and emergency (A&E) attendances.
• Patients and staff told us children and young people were treated in an age-appropriate way and were recognised as individuals.
• Appointments were available outside of school hours and the premises were suitable for children and babies. All children who required an urgent appointment were seen on the same day as requested.
• The practice worked with midwives, health visitors and school nurses to support the needs of this population group. For example, ante-natal, post-natal and child health surveillance clinics.
• Two of the GPs within the practice also worked in general paediatrics in secondary care so were able to provide additional advice to parents in the management of children with acute illness or long term disorders.

Updated 31 March 2016

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

• The practice provided proactive, responsive and personalised care to meet the needs of the older people in its population. Home visits and urgent appointments were available for those patients with enhanced needs.
• The practice had a large proportion of patients aged 55 and over and in response to this had pooled monies together with other local practices to recruit an additional nurse and health care assistant to work with the community matron. These roles involved providing support to the elderly and frail in the community.
• The practice supported Leeds North Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) initiatives to reduce the rate of elderly patients’ acute admission to hospital.
• Clinical staff within the practice liaised with a Consultant Physician in elderly medicine to offer support in the community.
• The practice looked after a nursing home in the local area and provided a weekly ward round to ensure face to face contact was maintained.
• There was a designated GP assigned to the care homes where patients were registered with the practice to maintain continuity of care for these patients.
• The practice worked closely with the CCG pharmacist to provide joint medication reviews for patients entering residential or nursing homes and joining the practice list.

Updated 31 March 2016

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

• The needs of these patients 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 the option to book appointments online as well as a full range of health promotion and screening that reflected the needs for this age group. For example, cervical screening and annual health checks.
• Telephone consultations were available for patients to access throughout the day.
• The practice participated in the electronic prescribing scheme which enabled patients to obtain their medication near their workplace rather than near their home.

Updated 31 March 2016

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

• The practice regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of people in this population group, for example the local mental health team. Patients and/or their carer were given information on how to access various support groups and voluntary organisations, such as Carers Leeds.
• 89.2% of patients diagnosed with dementia had received a face to face review of their care in the last 12 months, which was better than the local and national averages
• 86.8% of patients who had a severe mental health problem had received an annual review in the past 12 months and had a comprehensive, agreed care plan documented in their record. This was significantly higher than both the local (77.4%) and national (77.2%).
• Staff had a good understanding of how to support patients with mental health needs and dementia.

Updated 31 March 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 and regularly worked with multidisciplinary teams in the case management of this population group.
• Information was provided on how to access various local support groups and voluntary organisations.
• Longer appointments were available for patients as needed.
• Staff knew how to recognise signs of abuse in children, young people and adults whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. They 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 worked with the local drug dependency and alcohol services to offer shared care for patients with opiate drug dependency.
• The practice had a dedicated GP to oversee the care of patients with a learning disability and worked closely with the Royal College of GPs Professional Interest Group to develop systems of care for these patients.